'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent 20 years on.

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the game and those who followed his career endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"Yet he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he adds. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from home play with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

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

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" 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 new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

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

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas plummeted.

"The aim remained for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion 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 forever linked, begins later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.