'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's departed star two decades on.

All the young snooker player always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a professional career that saw him secure six significant titles in six years.

This year marks two decades since the popular Hunter died from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his influence and memory on the game and those who were close to him remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a lifetime our son would become a career sportsman," his mother recalls.

"However he just loved it."

Hunter's father recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a child.

"He never stopped," he notes. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from home play with aplomb.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as the game dominated, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

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

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

But for all his triumphs in the sport, 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."

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

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

Multiple stories from across the snooker circuit highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in palaces and castles but in local sports centers across the UK.

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

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

"The idea was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

The Foundation helped pave the way 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 leading figure in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

Classic footage of their son's matches online help his parents stay "close to him".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's folklore.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his achievements, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.