'He brought laughter': Remembering snooker's lost great two decades on.

All the young snooker player truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would result in a life on the tour that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the sport and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother states.

"Yet he just adored it."

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

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from table top snooker with great skill.

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

Quick Success: From Teenager to Champion

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 forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their young son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

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

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The charity in his name, 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 program to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally.

"It would have thrilled him 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 "close to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

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