'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's departed star 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A competitive passion, developed at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in half a dozen years.

Now marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, mere days prior to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years our son would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum recalls.

"But he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for 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 young Hunter made the jump from table top snooker with aplomb.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple stories from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas dropped significantly.

"The aim remained for a program to help get kids off the street," one coach said.

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

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

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches online 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 continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, begins later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his accomplishments, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.