'He was a joy': Remembering snooker's departed star two decades on.

All the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a professional career that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

Now marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Hunter's mum recalls.

"Yet he just adored it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from home play with aplomb.

His natural ability would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, 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 presence of elite players only, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

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

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks 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 christened 'A Sporting Icon'.

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

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

When he passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

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

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas fell sharply.

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

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

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

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

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

"I can access it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's legend.

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

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.