'Paul was fun': Honoring the game's lost great two decades on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would culminate in a professional career that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in six years.

Now marks two decades since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

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

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from home play with great skill.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas 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 carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. 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 involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter won on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

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

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

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

Despite gruelling side effects, 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 succumbed in the mid-2000s, 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 go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

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

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

"The idea was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has provided 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.

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention 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 ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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