'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's lost great 20 years on.

All the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him win six major trophies in a six-year span.

Now marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the game and those who followed his career remain as powerful today.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a lifetime Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum recalls.

"However he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he notes. "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 home play with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He got on with everybody."

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, 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 passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community 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."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

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

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major 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.

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches on YouTube 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 common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's history.

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

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is never forgotten.