'Paul was fun': Honoring the game's departed star 20 years on.
All the young snooker player always wished to do was compete on the baize.
A competitive passion, sparked at the age of three with the help of a miniature snooker set on his home's central table in the city of Leeds, would lead to a professional career that saw him secure six major trophies in six years.
This year marks 20 years since the beloved Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his birthday marking 28 years.
But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the game he loved, his enduring mark on snooker and those who were close to him remain as vibrant now.
'He just loved it': Early Beginnings
"We'd never have known in a million years the boy would become a pro on the circuit," his mother says.
"Yet he just was passionate about it."
Alan Hunter recalls how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" other than snooker as a child.
"He never stopped," he notes. "He would play every night after school."
After persistently asking his dad to take him to a community venue to play on professional-standard tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the leap from home play with remarkable ease.
His natural ability would be coached by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from the adjacent city, at a now defunct club in the Leeds district of Yeadon.
Quick Success: 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 fourteen years old to fully dedicate himself to building a career in the game.
It paid off in spades. Within five years, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the late-nineties Welsh championship.
Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the involvement of elite players only, Hunter triumphed on three occasions, in consecutive years.
'Paul was fun': The Man Behind the Cue
But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never deserted him.
"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He connected with everybody."
"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina states. "Paul was fun. 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 "witty, generous" and "always the last to leave the party".
With his effortless appeal, boyish good looks and candid way with the press, not to mention his prodigious ability, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the modern era.
No wonder then, that he was nicknamed 'A Sporting Icon'.
A Brave Battle: A Fight Against Cancer
In that year, a year that should have signaled the height of his career, Hunter was told he had cancer and would later undergo cancer therapy.
Multiple accounts from across the sporting world highlight the man's extraordinary willingness to honor obligations to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while undergoing treatment.
Despite difficult symptoms, Hunter continued to compete through the illness and received a standing ovation at The famous Sheffield venue when he played at the World Championships that year.
When he died in October 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its cherished personalities.
"The pain is immense," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to suffer such a loss."
A Lasting Impact: The Paul Hunter Foundation
Hunter's true legacy would be felt not in royal circles but in community venues across the UK.
The Paul Hunter Foundation, set up before his death, would provide free snooker sessions to young people all over the country.
The program was so successful that, according to reports, local youth crime rates in some areas fell sharply.
"The aim remained for a program to help get kids off the street," one organizer said.
The Foundation helped pave the way for a huge coaching programme, which has extended 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 leading figure in the sport stated.
Never Forgotten: Two Decades On
Historic matches of their son's matches on YouTube help his parents stay "close to him".
"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's marvellous!"
"We don't mind talking about Paul," she continues. "At first it was sad, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be recalled."
Although he never won the World Championship, the highly probable notion that Hunter would have eventually won snooker's top honor is a part of the sport's folklore.
The Masters, the competition with which he is most synonymous, begins later this month. The winner will lift the trophy named in his honor.
But for all his achievements, 20 years after his death it is Paul Hunter's character, as much his spectacular skill with a cue, that will ensure he is forever celebrated.
