'Paul was fun': Honoring snooker's lost great two decades on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother states.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

His dad recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he says. "He practiced every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter triumphed three times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance 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 christened 'A Sporting Icon'.

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, 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 passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions 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 aim remained for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

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 forever celebrated.