'Paul was fun': Remembering snooker's lost great 20 years on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

This year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his influence and memory on snooker and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

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

"Yet he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

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

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers 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, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.

"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: 20 Years Later

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

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

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, 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 spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.