'Paul was fun': Remembering the sport's lost great two decades on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

The present year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the passing of a generational talent that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum says.

"Yet he just adored it."

His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with great skill.

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

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

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

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

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena 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 cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

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

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly.

"The idea was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

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 are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.