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

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

The present year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the game he loved, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him persist as strong as ever.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he notes. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'A Sporting Icon'.

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

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

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

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

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

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience 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 foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

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

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

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

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's history.

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

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.