'He brought laughter': Remembering the game's departed star 20 years on.

Everything the young snooker player ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in a six-year span.

Now marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on snooker and those who followed his career remain as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a billion years our son would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"However he just adored it."

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

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: 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 "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

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

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

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

With his natural likability, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the modern era.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Snooker World's Beckham'.

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

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

"It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world.

"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: 20 Years Later

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 anytime," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his accomplishments, 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.