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

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the loss of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career persist as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime our son would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum says.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"He never stopped," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

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

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their young son had won his first ranking title, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete 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 the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

Classic footage of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, begins later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.