'Paul was fun': Remembering snooker's lost great two decades on.
Everything the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was compete on the baize.
A competitive passion, caught at the age of three with the help of a tiny snooker set on his family's living room table in his Leeds home, would result in a life on the tour that saw him win six significant titles in half a dozen years.
The present year marks two decades since the popular Hunter passed away from cancer, mere days prior to his birthday marking 28 years.
But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that transcended the pastime he cherished, his enduring mark on the sport and those who knew him remain as vibrant now.
'His passion was clear': Early Beginnings
"It was impossible to foresee in a lifetime Paul would become a career sportsman," Hunter's mum recalls.
"However he just was passionate about it."
Hunter's father remembers how his son "showed no interest in anything else" except for snooker as a child.
"He was relentless," he says. "He competed every night after school."
After successfully badgering 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 mercurial talent would be nurtured by the 1986 World Champion Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now closed venue in the Leeds district of Yeadon.
Rapid Rise: A Star is Born
With his mother and father's requests to do his homework increasingly falling on deaf ears as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the mid-teens to fully focus on forging a career in the game.
It paid off in spades. Within half a decade, their adolescent had won his initial major win, the 1998 Welsh Open.
Considered one of snooker's most difficult competitions to win because of the lineup featuring exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in the early 2000s.
'A Cheeky Charm': The Man Behind the Cue
But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's down-to-earth charisma never deserted him.
"His demeanor was excellent did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."
"If you met him you'd like him," Kristina states. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."
Hunter's wife Lindsey, with whom he had a child, describes him as an "wonderful, youthful, and fun personality" who was "humorous, caring" and "typically the final guest at the party".
With his easy charm, youthful appearance and straight-talking media manner, not to mention his considerable talent, Hunter quickly became snooker's poster boy for the new 21st Century.
No wonder then, that he was christened 'The Beckham of the Baize'.
Courage in Crisis: Illness and Resilience
In the mid-2000s, a year that should have been the peak of his powers, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.
Multiple accounts from across the professional tour highlight the man's extraordinary dedication to keep promises to public appearances and promotional work, all while undergoing treatment.
Despite harsh reactions, Hunter kept playing through the illness and received a rapturous applause at The famous Sheffield venue when he competed in the World Championships that year.
When he succumbed in autumn 2006, snooker's close-knit fraternity lost one of its most popular brothers.
"It is tragic," Kristina says. "It is a terrible thing for any mum and dad to lose a child."
A Lasting Impact: Giving Back
Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in snooker halls and clubs across the UK.
The Paul Hunter Foundation, 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 aim remained for a scheme to help provide a positive outlet," one coach said.
The Foundation helped pave the way 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 chairman in the sport stated.
Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence
Historic matches 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 marvellous!"
"We like to reminisce about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody mention him than him not be spoken of."
Although he never won the World Championship, the common opinion that Hunter would have gone on to lift snooker's greatest prize is a part of the sport's legend.
The Masters, the competition with which he is forever linked, commences later this month. The winner will lift the memorial cup.
But for all his achievements, two decades after his death it is Paul Hunter's spirit, as much his brilliant talent on the table, that will ensure he is always remembered.
