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

Everything the Leeds-born talent always wished to do was compete on the baize.

A sporting bug, sparked at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would culminate in a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in half a dozen years.

The present year marks a score of years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, just days before to his twenty-eighth birthday.

But notwithstanding the tragic departure of a generational talent that went beyond the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on snooker and those who knew him remain as vibrant now.

'His passion was clear': The Formative Years

"We could not have predicted in a billion years Paul would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.

"Yet he just adored it."

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

"His dedication was constant," he adds. "He would play every night after school."

After persistently asking 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 great skill.

His mercurial talent would be developed by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now closed venue in the north Leeds suburb of Yeadon.

Quick Success: The Path to Glory

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

It was a resounding success. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.

Considered one of snooker's hardest tournaments to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter won a trio of times, in the early 2000s.

'A Gracious Competitor': A Legacy of Character

But for all his achievements in competition, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never faded.

"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."

"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina adds. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you feel at ease."

Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".

With his easy charm, handsome features and candid way with the press, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new millennium.

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

Courage in Crisis: His Final Years

In that year, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was found to have cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.

Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.

Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The Crucible Theatre when he played at the World Championships that year.

When he passed away in autumn 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 go through that pain."

A Lasting Impact: Giving Back

Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in high society but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.

The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide accessible training to young people all over the country.

The program was so successful that, according to reports, anti-social behavior 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 huge coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children globally.

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

Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence

Classic footage of their son's matches via the internet 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 adds. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody talk 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 ultimate trophy 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 Paul Hunter Trophy.

But for all his successes, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his dazzling snooker ability, that will ensure he is always remembered.