'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the sport's taken talent two decades on.

All the young snooker player ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

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

Now marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career endure as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime the boy would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter says.

"But he just was passionate about it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

"He was relentless," he says. "He practiced every night after school."

After persistently asking 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 leap from table top snooker with great skill.

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

Metoric Ascent: A Star is Born

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He brought joy. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

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

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in the mid-2000s, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply.

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has opened up 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.

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins 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 always remembered.