'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, caught 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 culminate in a professional career that saw him secure six significant titles in half a dozen years.

Now marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that transcended the game he loved, his influence and memory on snooker and those who were close to him persist as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings

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

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"He never stopped," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from table top snooker with aplomb.

His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter won three times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow 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 effortless appeal, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'A Sporting Icon'.

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

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

When he passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to children all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children all over the world.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches online 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 don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.