'He was a joy': Remembering the game's departed star a score of years on.

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who knew him persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"Yet he just adored it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on carving out 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 most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, 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 adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete 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 passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution 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 free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

"The goal was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

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

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can access it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences 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 dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.