'He was a joy': Reflecting on the game's taken talent two decades on.

All the young snooker player truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

The present year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years the boy would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

"He was relentless," he says. "He competed 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 budding player made the leap from miniature games with aplomb.

His raw skill would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

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 dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter won on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

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 got on with everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

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

With his natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

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

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember 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 ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.