'He was a joy': Honoring snooker's departed star 20 years on.

Everything Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker.

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 the city of Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the sport he adored, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him remain as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter says.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

His dad recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a child.

"He never stopped," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from table top snooker with aplomb.

His natural ability would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

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 age of 14 to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, 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 lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'A Sporting Icon'.

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," 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 legacy 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 accessible training to children all over the country.

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

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

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

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

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

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

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

"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."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won 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 trophy named in his honor.

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