'Paul was fun': Honoring the sport's taken talent two decades on.

Everything Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

The present year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a generational talent that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who knew him remain as powerful today.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states.

"But he just loved it."

His dad remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

But for all his success on the table, 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."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

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

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause 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 best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk 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 top honor is etched into the sport's legend.

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 accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.