'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's lost great 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him secure six significant titles in six years.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the sport and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"However he just adored it."

His dad recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on building a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his easy charm, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution 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 no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a program to help get kids off the street," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major 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.

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's folklore.

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 accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.