'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's departed star a score of years on.

All the young snooker player always wished to do was play snooker.

A sporting bug, sparked at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a pro playing days that saw him secure half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

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

But notwithstanding the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his influence and memory on the sport and those who followed his career endure as powerful today.

'The game was his life': A Childhood Obsession

"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years Paul would become a pro on the circuit," Kristina Hunter says.

"However he just loved it."

Hunter's father recounts how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he says. "He competed every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from home play with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the area of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: 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 "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the presence of only the top competitors, Hunter was victorious a trio of 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 down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

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

"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from 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 leading figure for the modern era.

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

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In that year, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

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

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The World Championship arena when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he died in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its best-loved members.

"It is tragic," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

An Enduring Legacy: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in local sports centers across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching to youths all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior in some areas dropped significantly.

"The goal was for a platform to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a huge coaching programme, which has extended playing opportunities to children internationally.

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

Always Remembered: Two Decades On

Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "connected to him".

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

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."

While he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's history.

The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, starts later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.

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