'Paul was fun': Honoring snooker's departed star two decades on.

Everything the young snooker player truly desired to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

Now marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter states.

"However he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "cared little for 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 local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests 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 focus on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their young son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue

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

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

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

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

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

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

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

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

"The idea was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

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

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

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

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins 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 personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.