'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's lost great a score of years on.

All Paul Hunter always wished to do was play snooker.

A love for the game, developed at the tender age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

This year marks two decades since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the tragic departure of a generational talent that rose above the game he loved, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.

"But he just adored it."

Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a young boy.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a local club to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the jump from home play with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be nurtured by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

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

It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in consecutive years.

'A Gracious Competitor': 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 take to him," Kristina adds. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, 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, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In 2005, a year that should have marked 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 commitment to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its most popular brothers.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers 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 plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped pave the way 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.

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, 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 spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.