'He brought laughter': Reflecting on snooker's lost great a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, developed at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

The present year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the passing of a generational talent that transcended the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We'd never have known in a lifetime the boy would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter says.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"He was relentless," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the jump from miniature games with great skill.

His natural ability would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

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."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas plummeted.

"The idea was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

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

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

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.