'He was a joy': Remembering the game's taken talent a score of years on.

All the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would lead to a professional career that saw him win half a dozen major wins in six years.

The present year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him persist as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

"We could not have predicted in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum says.

"However he just was passionate about it."

His dad recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"He never stopped," he notes. "He would play every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with 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 table top snooker with great skill.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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."

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" 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 considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

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

When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society 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 youths all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas plummeted.

"The aim remained for a program to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

"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: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him".

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.