'Paul was fun': Honoring the sport's lost great 20 years on.

All the young snooker player always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would result in a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

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

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the sport and those who followed his career remain as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a million years the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

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

After successfully badgering 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 jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears 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 was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

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

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have marked the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

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

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas plummeted.

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

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

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, 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 ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, starts later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

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 forever celebrated.