'He brought laughter': Honoring the sport's lost great a score of years on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a lifetime our son would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he notes. "He competed every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from table top snooker with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply.

"The idea was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world.

"Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, begins later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.