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

Everything the young snooker player ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A sporting bug, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would lead to a pro playing days that saw him claim six major trophies in six years.

This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his birthday marking 28 years.

But despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation player that transcended the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on snooker and those who followed his career endure as strong as ever.

'The game was his life': Early Beginnings

"It was impossible to foresee in a million years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.

"However he just adored it."

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

"He was relentless," he says. "He would play 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 miniature games with remarkable ease.

His mercurial talent would be coached by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as training came first, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully concentrate on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their young son had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': 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."

"Upon meeting him you'd take to him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".

With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks 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 nicknamed 'A Sporting Icon'.

Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world speak of the man's extraordinary willingness to keep promises to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while going through treatment.

Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete 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 succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its best-loved members.

"It's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in local sports centers across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas plummeted.

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

The Foundation helped establish the basis for a significant coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children all over the world.

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

Always Remembered: 20 Years Later

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

"I can access it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is etched into the sport's history.

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 successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is never forgotten.