'Paul was fun': Honoring the sport's departed star 20 years on.

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would result in a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

Now marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career endure as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a lifetime the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"However he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he adds. "He competed 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 young Hunter made the jump from home play with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"Upon meeting 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 child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in 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. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The charity in his name, 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 offer a constructive activity," one official said.

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

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

Always Remembered: 20 Years Later

Archive videos 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 a comfort!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember 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 ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

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

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.