'He brought laughter': Remembering the sport's departed star a score of years on.

Everything the young snooker player always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, sparked at the tender age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in his Leeds home, would culminate in a professional career that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.

The present year marks a score of years since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth 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 followed his career persist as powerful today.

'He just loved it': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a lifetime the boy would become a professional snooker player," his mother says.

"However he just loved it."

His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" other than snooker as a youth.

"He never stopped," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After repeatedly pleading with his dad to take him to a community venue to play on regulation tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the leap from miniature games with aplomb.

His natural ability would be developed by the snooker legend Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.

Rapid Rise: From Teenager to Champion

With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as the game dominated, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the age of 14 to fully focus on building a career in the game.

It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his maior professional trophy, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring only the top competitors, Hunter triumphed a trio of times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

'A Gracious Competitor': His Enduring Personality

But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.

"He was incredibly composed did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."

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

Hunter's widow 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 effortless appeal, boyish good looks and honest interview style, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's pin-up for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: A Fight Against Cancer

In the mid-2000s, a year that should have marked the zenith of his talent, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple stories from across the sporting world attest to the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while going through treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he turned out for the World Championships that year.

When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its most popular brothers.

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

A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth

Hunter's true impact would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.

The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to children all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, issues with young people in some areas dropped significantly.

"The goal was for a program to help provide a positive outlet," one official said.

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

"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: Two Decades On

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

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

"We like to reminisce about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be recalled."

Even though he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is etched into the sport's legend.

The Masters, the competition with which he is most associated, begins 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 personality, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.