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

Everything the young snooker player always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that transcended the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him persist as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"However he just loved it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" except for 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 nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, 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 exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

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

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

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

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," 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 contribution would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a program to help get kids off the street," one coach said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"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 mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.