'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's departed star two decades on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.

This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum recalls.

"But he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from miniature games with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never left him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in autumn 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 Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution 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 free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has provided 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 leading figure in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.