'He brought laughter': Reflecting on snooker's departed star 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would lead to a professional career that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.

Now marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career remain as powerful today.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a million years the boy would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum recalls.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he notes. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" 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 half a decade, their young son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, 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, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major 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 senior official in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: 20 Years Later

Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

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

Although 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 history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

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