'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's taken talent 20 years on.

Everything the young snooker player ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.

This year marks two decades since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on the sport and those who knew him remain as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a million years our son would become a career sportsman," his mother recalls.

"However he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for 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 professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from table top snooker with aplomb.

His natural ability would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their young son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

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

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

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

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's legend.

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

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