'He brought laughter': Reflecting on the game's lost great 20 years on.

All the young snooker player always wished to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a professional career that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

The present year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that went beyond the game he loved, his influence and memory on the sport and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a billion years the boy would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum recalls.

"But he just adored it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play 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 young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

With his parents' pleas to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': A Legacy of Character

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

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away 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 suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

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

The charity in his name, 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, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

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

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be spoken of."

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

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, starts later this month. The winner will lift the Paul Hunter Trophy.

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