'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's lost great 20 years on.

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

A sporting bug, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the passing of a generational talent that transcended the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the game and those who knew him persist as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from home play with aplomb.

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

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, 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 straight-talking media manner, 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 Beckham of the Baize'.

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 aggressive treatment.

Multiple stories from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in community venues 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 idea was for a program to help get kids off the street," one coach said.

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

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

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.