'He brought laughter': Honoring snooker's taken talent two decades on.

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

Now marks a score of years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him remain as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime our son would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"However he just was passionate about it."

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

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from home play with remarkable ease.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

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

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

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

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

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

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

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

"The goal was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has provided 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.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.