'He was a joy': Remembering snooker's departed star two decades on.

Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, caught at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in six years.

This year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the sport and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother recalls.

"Yet he just loved it."

His dad recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

"He never stopped," he says. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from miniature games with great skill.

His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young son had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, 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 left him.

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

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply.

"The idea was for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Classic footage of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

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

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is never forgotten.