'He was a joy': Reflecting on the sport's departed star 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who were close to him endure as powerful today.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

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

"However he just loved it."

His dad remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering 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 transition from table top snooker with aplomb.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

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

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his easy charm, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas plummeted.

"The idea was for a platform to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork 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 leading figure in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Archive videos of their son's matches online 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 don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is never forgotten.