'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's lost great 20 years on.

All Paul Hunter ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his family's living room table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

This year marks 20 years since the popular Hunter died from cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But notwithstanding the loss of a generational talent that transcended the sport he adored, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who were close to him endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

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

"But he just was passionate about it."

His dad recalls how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a child.

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "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 aspiring talent made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

His natural ability would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It proved a masterstroke. Within a short period, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter won on three occasions, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue

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

"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

"When encountering him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his natural likability, handsome features and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

A Brave Battle: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have signaled 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 exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community 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."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in high society but in community venues 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 scheme was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply.

"The goal was for a scheme to help get kids off the street," one official said.

The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a chairman in the sport stated.

Forever in Memory: A Lasting Presence

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".

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

"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's folklore.

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

But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.