'He brought laughter': Honoring the game's departed star two decades on.
All the young snooker player ever wanted to do was play snooker.
A sporting bug, caught at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in Leeds, would lead to a life on the tour that saw him claim six significant titles in a six-year span.
The present year marks two decades since the adored Hunter succumbed to cancer, mere days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday.
But despite the passing of a generational talent that rose above the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him endure as strong as ever.
'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings
"It was impossible to foresee in a billion years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother states.
"But he just adored it."
His dad recalls how his son "cared little for anything else" besides snooker as a young boy.
"He never stopped," he adds. "He practiced every night after school."
After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the budding player made the transition from table top snooker with remarkable ease.
His mercurial talent would be coached by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from nearby Bradford, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.
Rapid Rise: The Path to Glory
With his mother and father's requests to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "chance" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on carving out a career in the game.
It paid off in spades. Within five years, their young son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.
Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter was victorious a trio of times, in consecutive years.
'Paul was fun': A Legacy of Character
But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never faded.
"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."
"If you met him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He brought joy. He'd make you relaxed."
Hunter's widow Lindsey, with whom he had daughter Evie, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "funny, kind" and "never the first to depart from the party".
With his natural likability, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his immense skill, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.
No wonder then, that he was dubbed 'The Beckham of the Baize'.
Facing Adversity: His Final Years
In 2005, a year that should have signaled the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo chemotherapy.
Multiple accounts from across the snooker circuit attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to exhibitions, events and press interviews, all while undergoing treatment.
Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he competed in the World Championships that year.
When he passed away in October 2006, snooker's tight community lost one of its best-loved members.
"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 local sports centers across the UK.
The foundation he inspired, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to children all over the country.
The initiative was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas plummeted.
"The idea was for a platform to help get kids off the street," one official said.
The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has opened up playing opportunities to children all over the world.
"It would have thrilled him what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a senior official in the sport stated.
Always Remembered: Two Decades On
Historic matches of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "close to him".
"I can watch it and I can watch Paul at any moment," Kristina says. "It's wonderful!"
"We don't mind talking about Paul," she adds. "Before it would be tears, but I'd rather somebody remember him than him not be recalled."
Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's top honor is ingrained in the sport's history.
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 successes, a generation after his death it is Paul Hunter's personality, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is always remembered.
