'Paul was fun': Remembering the game's departed star a score of years on.

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

A competitive passion, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win half a dozen major wins in a six-year span.

Now marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But despite the loss of a generational talent that transcended the sport he adored, his enduring mark on the game and those who knew him persist as vibrant now.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"We'd never have known in a million years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," Hunter's mum states.

"But he just adored it."

His dad recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" other than snooker as a young boy.

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

After persistently asking his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His raw skill would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

With his family's urging 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 age of 14 to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won three times, in consecutive years.

'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.

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

"When encountering him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.

No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

Multiple stories from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to go through that pain."

A Foundation for the Future: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact 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 no-cost coaching to children all over the country.

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

"The goal was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one organizer said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a significant coaching programme, which has provided 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 chairman in the sport stated.

Always Remembered: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage 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 like to reminisce about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize is ingrained in the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his accomplishments, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.