'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's lost great a score of years on.

All the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, caught at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him win six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him persist as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime our son would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum says.

"However he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from home play with aplomb.

His natural ability would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas 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 building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

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

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

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

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

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 effortless appeal, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Snooker World's Beckham'.

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue 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 cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

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

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts 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 personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.