'He was a joy': Reflecting on the game's lost great 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career remain as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

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

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

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

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "He practiced every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

His raw skill would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never faded.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, 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'.

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he played at the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

"The goal was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

Archive videos of their son's matches online help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.