'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's departed star a score of years on.

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

A competitive passion, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in a six-year span.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who were close to him persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum says.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "He competed 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 aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district 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 age of 14 to fully concentrate on carving out 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 hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from 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 dubbed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

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

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

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

"Paul would have loved 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 online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's legend.

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

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.