'He was a joy': Reflecting on snooker's taken talent a score of years on.

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

A competitive passion, developed at the very young age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would culminate in a professional career that saw him claim half a dozen major wins in half a dozen years.

This year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter succumbed to cancer, just days before to his 28th birthday.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a once-in-a-generation player that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the game and those who knew him endure as powerful today.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

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

"However he just loved it."

Alan Hunter remembers how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a child.

"He was relentless," he notes. "He practiced every night after school."

After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the young Hunter made the leap from table top snooker with remarkable ease.

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

Rapid Rise: A Star is Born

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 concentrate on forging a career in the game.

It was a resounding success. Within a short period, their still-teenage son 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 only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.

'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character

But for all his success on the table, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never left him.

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

"If you met him you'd take to him," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "amazing, young cheeky beautiful soul" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, 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'.

Facing Adversity: Illness and Resilience

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

Multiple anecdotes from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.

Despite harsh reactions, Hunter played on through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The Crucible Theatre 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's awful," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."

An Enduring Legacy: Giving Back

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to youths all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a platform to help get kids off the street," one organizer said.

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

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

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

"I can watch it and I can watch Paul anytime," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"

"We don't mind talking about Paul," she concludes. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."

While he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor 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 successes, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.