'He brought laughter': Honoring snooker's taken talent two decades on.

All the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him win half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

Now marks a score of years since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the passing of a generational talent that transcended the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who knew him remain as powerful today.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a professional snooker player," his mother states.

"However he just adored it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he says. "He would play every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with 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 table top snooker with great skill.

His natural ability would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Quick Success: 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 fourteen years old to fully dedicate himself to forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': His Enduring Personality

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

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

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his natural likability, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.

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

A Brave Battle: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have been the zenith of his talent, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

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

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

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

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

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

"The idea was for a program to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge 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.

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history.

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

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.