'Paul was fun': Honoring the game's taken talent a score of years on.

Everything Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his family's living room table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

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

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a phenomenal skill that transcended the game he loved, his enduring mark on the game and those who followed his career persist as powerful today.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"We'd never have known in a billion years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter states.

"However he just loved it."

Alan Hunter recounts how his son "showed no interest in anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.

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

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the jump from table top snooker with aplomb.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the involvement of only the top competitors, Hunter won three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never faded.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "funny, kind" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his natural likability, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's leading figure for the modern era.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

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

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true contribution would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one coach said.

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

"He would have embraced what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated.

Never Forgotten: 20 Years Later

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

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she continues. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion 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 trophy named in his honor.

But for all his accomplishments, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is never forgotten.