'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the sport's lost great two decades on.

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was play snooker.

A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who knew him persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years Paul would become a professional snooker player," his mother states.

"However he just loved it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a child.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, 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 adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and honest interview style, 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 Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

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

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

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

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

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.