'He was a joy': Remembering snooker's taken talent 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

This year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter says.

"But he just adored it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

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 Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

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

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, 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 personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.