'He brought laughter': Honoring the sport's lost great two decades on.

Everything the Leeds-born talent truly desired to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, caught at the tender 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 pro playing days that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But in spite of the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the sport he adored, his enduring mark on snooker and those who followed his career endure as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter recalls.

"However he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from miniature games with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be developed by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, 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 was a resounding success. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

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 connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution 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 accessible training to children all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

"The idea was for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a significant coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.