'He was a joy': Honoring the sport's taken talent a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

The present year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him endure as powerful today.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.

"But he just adored it."

His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from table top snooker with great skill.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, 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 Snooker World's Beckham'.

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to children all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

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

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

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

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.