'He was a joy': Honoring the sport's lost great a score of years on.

All the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

Now marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a lifetime the boy would become a career sportsman," his mother says.

"But he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from table top snooker with aplomb.

His raw skill would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while going through treatment.

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

When he passed away in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.

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

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The goal was for a platform to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has provided 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.

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore.

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 accomplishments, 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.