'Paul was fun': Remembering snooker's departed star 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the sport and those who followed his career remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years our son would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum says.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a child.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young 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 only the top competitors, Hunter won on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

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

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

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

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

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

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant 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: Two Decades On

Classic footage of their son's matches online help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.