'He brought laughter': Honoring snooker's taken talent two decades on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him claim six major trophies in a six-year span.

The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the sport and those who knew him endure as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a pro on the circuit," his mother recalls.

"But he just adored it."

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

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from home play with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests 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 dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

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

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and candid way with the press, 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'.

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have marked the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight 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 famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

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

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

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

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

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

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

"Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

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 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 always remembered.