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

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

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

This year marks two decades since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a phenomenal skill that transcended the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the game and those who were close to him persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years our son would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum says.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: 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 "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter won on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

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

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

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

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.