'Paul was fun': Reflecting on snooker's lost great two decades on.

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

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

This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum says.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a child.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from home play with great skill.

His raw skill would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" 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 half a decade, their young son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

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 was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

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

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, begins later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is never forgotten.