'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the game's lost great a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, caught at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would result in a pro playing days that saw him secure six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the passing of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.

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

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter won on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

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

Multiple stories from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, 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 turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

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

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

"The goal was for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

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

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

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches online help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "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 common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.