'He was a joy': Remembering the sport's taken talent 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

This year marks 20 years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But in spite of the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career remain as powerful today.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother recalls.

"Yet he just loved it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "showed no interest in 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 budding player made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Quick Success: A Star is Born

With his family's urging to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious three times, 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 humble charm never deserted him.

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

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

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

With his natural likability, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Snooker World's Beckham'.

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple accounts from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

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

When he passed away in October 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 go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers 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 plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has provided 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.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is never forgotten.