'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's lost great two decades on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A competitive passion, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

Now marks two decades since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the game and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"But he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from home play with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious three times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

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

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"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 impact would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up 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.

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Classic footage of their son's matches online 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 are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's history.

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

But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.