'He brought laughter': Honoring snooker's taken talent 20 years on.

All the young snooker player truly desired to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a professional career that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in six years.

The present year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the sport and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," his mother recalls.

"However he just was passionate about it."

His dad remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from home play with great skill.

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

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

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

"I can access it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, 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 gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, 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 spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.