'He was a joy': Remembering the game's lost great 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would lead to a professional career that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

This year marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career remain as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a lifetime our son would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from table top snooker with great skill.

His natural ability would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

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

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

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

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, 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, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has provided 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

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

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of."

Even though 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 associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

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