'He brought laughter': Honoring the sport's lost great a score of years on.

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

A sporting bug, developed at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the passing of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark 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 lifetime Paul would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from home play with great skill.

His raw skill would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, 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, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple stories from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles 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, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

"The goal was for a platform to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant 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 senior official in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.