'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's departed star two decades on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a billion years our son would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter says.

"However he just adored it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from table top snooker with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests 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 focus on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

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

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

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

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

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

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

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children globally.

"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: Two Decades On

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

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

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

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's history.

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

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.