'Paul was fun': Reflecting on snooker's taken talent 20 years on.

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

A competitive passion, caught at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a professional career that saw him secure six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career remain as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime our son would become a career sportsman," his mother says.

"However he just adored it."

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

"He never stopped," he adds. "He competed every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, 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 involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple stories from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in 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. "I wouldn't wish 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 royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions 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 idea was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world.

"He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, 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 personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.