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

All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win six significant titles in six years.

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

But in spite of the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the sport and those who knew him persist as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"He never stopped," he notes. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from home play with aplomb.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

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

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, 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, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, 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 turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

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

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

"Paul would have loved 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 "close to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "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 widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into 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 accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.