'He was a joy': Remembering the sport's departed star two decades on.

All the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure six major trophies in a six-year span.

Now marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who knew him remain as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a million years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum recalls.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he adds. "He would play 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 aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

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

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

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was christened '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 diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple stories from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

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

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, 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, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

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

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

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

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.