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

All the young snooker player truly desired to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, caught 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 pro playing days that saw him win six significant titles in six years.

Now marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that transcended the game he loved, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career remain as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime our son would become a professional snooker player," his mother says.

"Yet he just loved it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He competed 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 young Hunter made the leap from home play with great skill.

His natural ability would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to carving out a career in the game.

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

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

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

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

"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

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

A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he died in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in high society but in community venues across the UK.

The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to children all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a major coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Forever in Memory: Two Decades On

Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet 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 are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him 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 greatest prize is a part of the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.