'He brought laughter': Reflecting on snooker's departed star a score of years on.

Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

Now marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the game and those who knew him persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a lifetime the boy would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states.

"However he just was passionate about it."

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

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from miniature games with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment 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 training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

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

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises 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 famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

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

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

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

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

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

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

Classic footage of their son's matches online help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history.

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

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