'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's taken talent 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, caught at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would culminate in a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"But he just was passionate about it."

His dad remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

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

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

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, 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 regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within a short period, 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 presence of elite players only, Hunter won three times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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 was liked by everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a platform to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

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

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts 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 dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.