'He brought laughter': Honoring snooker's lost great two decades on.

All the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on snooker and those who followed his career persist as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum states.

"Yet he just loved it."

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

"He was relentless," he notes. "He competed every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from home play with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

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 dedicate himself to forging 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 involvement of elite players only, Hunter triumphed three times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

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

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

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

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, 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 plummeted.

"The goal was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up 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: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "close to him".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.