'He was a joy': Reflecting on the game's departed star a score of years on.

All the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the tender 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 life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

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

But in spite of the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on snooker and those who followed his career endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," his mother states.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a child.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from table top snooker with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

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

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow 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, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have marked the height of his career, 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 willingness to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy 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 accessible training to young people all over the country.

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

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

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

"Paul would have loved 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 "connected to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

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