'He was a joy': Honoring the game's departed star two decades on.

Everything Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him secure six significant titles in a six-year span.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the sport and those who were close to him persist as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a billion years our son would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum recalls.

"However he just loved it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

"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 young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with great skill.

His raw skill would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on carving out 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 hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

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

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

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

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

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

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he died in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

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

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

"The idea was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

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

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

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Archive videos 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 marvellous!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.