'He brought laughter': Remembering snooker's taken talent 20 years on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years.

This year marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

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

"However he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he notes. "He practiced every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from home play with great skill.

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

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

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 mid-teens to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments 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 turned out for the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

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

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

"The goal was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided 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.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "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 highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's history.

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

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.