'Paul was fun': Honoring snooker's taken talent a score of years on.

Everything the young snooker player always wished to do was play snooker.

A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six major trophies in six years.

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

But notwithstanding the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him endure as powerful today.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime the boy would become a professional snooker player," his mother recalls.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

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

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from miniature games with great skill.

His raw skill would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: 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 "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.

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

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to youths all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally.

"Paul would have loved 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

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts 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 spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.