'He was a joy': Remembering the game's taken talent two decades on.

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

A sporting bug, developed at the very young 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 six years.

The present year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him endure as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother recalls.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from miniature games with great skill.

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue

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

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, 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 succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.