'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's lost great 20 years on.

Everything Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a billion years our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother recalls.

"Yet he just was passionate about it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth.

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

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from table top snooker with great skill.

His mercurial talent would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter won on three occasions, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

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

With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, 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 that year, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

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

"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one coach said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Initially it was painful, 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 eventually won snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, 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 personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.