'He brought laughter': Honoring snooker's departed star 20 years on.

All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, caught at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who followed his career endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a billion years our son would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"However he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

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

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

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, 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 paid off in spades. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never faded.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'A Sporting Icon'.

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

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

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

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

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

"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 royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to children all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant 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 senior official in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.