'He was a joy': Honoring the sport's taken talent 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would lead to a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

Now marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But despite the passing of a generational talent that went beyond the sport he adored, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him persist as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years our son would become a pro on the circuit," his mother recalls.

"But he just loved it."

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

"He never stopped," he notes. "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 miniature games with aplomb.

His raw skill would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" 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 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter won three times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never left him.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

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

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

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

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

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

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to young people all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided 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

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief 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 forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

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