'Paul was fun': Honoring the game's departed star 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, sparked at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him claim six significant titles in half a dozen years.

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

But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him endure as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime the boy would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter states.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "He competed 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 jump from home play with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never left him.

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

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

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs 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 program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

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

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

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history.

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

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.