'Paul was fun': Reflecting on the game's lost great two decades on.

Everything Paul Hunter always wished to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

This year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter died from cancer, days short to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the game and those who knew him endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," his mother says.

"However he just was passionate about it."

His dad remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from miniature games with aplomb.

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

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on carving out a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their young son had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring elite players only, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his easy charm, youthful appearance 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 christened 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact 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 accessible training to children all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children internationally.

"Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

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 marvellous!"

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

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 legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, commences later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.

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