'He was a joy': Remembering the sport's lost great a score of years on.

Everything Paul Hunter truly desired to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks a score of years since the popular Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

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

"But he just adored it."

His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from home play with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of elite players only, Hunter was victorious three times, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance 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 nicknamed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

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

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide accessible training 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 idea was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped pave the way 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Classic footage of their son's matches online help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "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 etched into the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, starts later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

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