'He brought laughter': Remembering the game's taken talent a score of years on.

All the young snooker player always wished to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span.

The present year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the sport he adored, his influence and memory on snooker and those who were close to him remain as powerful today.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," his mother recalls.

"Yet he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

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 carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

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

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" 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 leading figure for the modern era.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'A Sporting Icon'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, 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 passed away in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

"Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches 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 whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

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

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history.

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

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.