'Paul was fun': Honoring the sport's departed star two decades on.

All the young snooker player ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in six years.

The present year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a billion years the boy would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"Yet he just loved it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After persistently asking 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 jump from miniature games with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his family's urging 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 focus on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter won three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

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

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

"Upon meeting him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, 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 the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact 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 youths all over the country.

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

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

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.

"He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: 20 Years Later

Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.