'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the game's taken talent 20 years on.

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

A love for the game, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years.

Now marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on snooker and those who knew him persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother says.

"But he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play 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 young Hunter made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

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

It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

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

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

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow 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 natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to young people all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

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

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's legend.

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

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