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

All the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was practice the game.

A love for the game, caught at the tender 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 claim half a dozen major wins in six years.

This year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter died from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.

But in spite of the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the sport he adored, his influence and memory on snooker and those who were close to him persist as vibrant now.

'He just loved it': A Childhood Obsession

"We could not have predicted in a billion years Paul would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum states.

"But he just adored it."

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

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

After repeatedly pleading with 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 miniature games with aplomb.

His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now defunct club in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Metoric Ascent: From Teenager to Champion

With his family's urging to do his homework regularly going unheeded as training came first, his parents took the "gamble" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his first ranking title, the 1998 Welsh Open.

Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's humble charm never deserted him.

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

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina continues. "Paul was fun. He'd make you comfortable."

Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".

With his effortless appeal, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience

In 2005, a year that should have signaled the zenith of his talent, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.

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

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a tumultuous reception at The Crucible Theatre when he competed in the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in October 2006, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.

"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "I wouldn't wish any mum and dad to lose a child."

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 no-cost coaching to young people all over the country.

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

"The aim remained for a scheme to help offer a constructive activity," one official said.

The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a huge coaching programme, which has extended 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.

Never Forgotten: Two Decades On

Archive videos of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "close to him".

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

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

Even though he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's greatest prize is etched into the sport's legend.

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, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.