'He was a joy': Remembering the sport's taken talent a score of years on.

All the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him claim six significant titles in half a dozen years.

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

But despite the passing of a once-in-a-generation player that rose above the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the game and those who were close to him remain as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years our son would become a career sportsman," Kristina Hunter states.

"Yet he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a youth.

"He was relentless," he notes. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a local club to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from home play with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

With his parents' pleas to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

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

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

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

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Snooker World's Beckham'.

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple anecdotes from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.

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

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to children all over the country.

The scheme was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children globally.

"He would have embraced 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

Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

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

Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief 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 associated, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is never forgotten.