'He was a joy': Honoring the sport's departed star two decades on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, caught at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

Now marks a score of years since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the sport and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime our son would become a career sportsman," his mother says.

"But he just was passionate about it."

His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

"He never stopped," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from miniature games with aplomb.

His natural ability would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has opened up 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: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history.

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, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.