'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the sport's lost great 20 years on.

All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who knew him persist as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

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

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a child.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

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

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: 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 stories from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

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

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

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

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

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

"The idea was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's legend.

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

But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.