'He was a joy': Remembering the game's departed star 20 years on.

Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him secure six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career endure as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years the boy would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum says.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

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

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from home play with aplomb.

His natural ability would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

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 mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

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

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

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

The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

"The idea was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis 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 leading figure in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.