'He was a joy': Honoring the game's taken talent 20 years on.

All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would result in a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in six years.

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

But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that transcended the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the game and those who followed his career endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime the boy would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum says.

"However he just adored it."

His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their young son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

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

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The goal was for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can access it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.