'He was a joy': Remembering the game's lost great two decades on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

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

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a lifetime our son would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum recalls.

"But he just loved it."

His dad remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" besides snooker as a child.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from home play with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, 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 proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

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

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"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 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 accessible training to young people 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 offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

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

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts 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 character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.