'He was a joy': Honoring the game's taken talent a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, caught at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win six major trophies in half a dozen years.

This year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his influence and memory on snooker and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

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

"But he just adored it."

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

"He was relentless," he says. "He practiced 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 budding player made the jump from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on forging a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter won on three occasions, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never left him.

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

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

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "humorous, caring" 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 21st Century.

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

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple anecdotes from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he played at the World Championships that year.

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

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to go through that pain."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

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

The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas fell sharply.

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis 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 leading figure in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

Historic matches of their son's matches online help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.