'He brought laughter': Honoring the sport's lost great two decades on.
Everything the Leeds-born talent ever wanted to do was play snooker.
A competitive passion, developed at the age of three with the help of a small snooker set on his parents' coffee table in his Leeds home, would result in a pro playing days that saw him win six significant titles in a six-year span.
The present year marks two decades since the adored Hunter passed away from cancer, days short to his 28th birthday.
But despite the passing of a phenomenal skill that rose above the pastime he cherished, his legacy and impact on the sport and those who followed his career persist as strong as ever.
'He just loved it': Early Beginnings
"We could not have predicted in a million years our son would become a professional snooker player," Kristina Hunter says.
"However he just loved it."
His dad remembers how his son "wasn't bothered about anything else" except for snooker as a youth.
"He was relentless," he notes. "He practiced every night after school."
After successfully badgering his dad to take him to a nearby hall to play on full-size tables at the age of eight, the aspiring talent made the transition from miniature games with aplomb.
His natural ability would be nurtured by the former world title holder Joe Johnson, from neighbouring Bradford, at a now former establishment in the area of Yeadon.
Quick Success: A Star is Born
With his parents' pleas to do his homework often being ignored as practice took priority, his parents took the "risk" of taking Hunter out of school at the fourteen years old to fully focus on building a career in the game.
It was a resounding success. Within half a decade, their still-teenage son had won his maior professional trophy, the Welsh Open of 1998.
Considered one of snooker's toughest events to win because of the presence of exclusively the best, Hunter triumphed three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2004.
'A Cheeky Charm': His Enduring Personality
But for all his triumphs in the sport, away from the game Hunter's approachable nature never left him.
"He had a great temperament did Paul," Alan says. "He was liked by everybody."
"Upon meeting him you'd enjoy his company," Kristina continues. "He was enjoyable. He'd make you relaxed."
Hunter's partner Lindsey, with whom he had a daughter, describes him as an "incredible, lively, and kind spirit" who was "humorous, caring" and "never the first to depart from the party".
With his easy charm, youthful appearance and candid way with the press, 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 Snooker World's Beckham'.
Facing Adversity: A Fight Against Cancer
In that year, a year that should have marked the height of his career, Hunter was diagnosed with cancer and would later undergo aggressive treatment.
Multiple accounts from across the professional tour attest to the man's extraordinary commitment to fulfill commitments to charity matches, tournaments, and media duties, all while enduring treatment.
Despite gruelling side effects, Hunter played on through the illness and received a standing ovation at The World Championship arena when he played at the World Championships that year.
When he succumbed in the mid-2000s, snooker's family-like circuit lost one of its cherished personalities.
"It's awful," Kristina says. "No parent should experience any mum and dad to go through that pain."
A Lasting Impact: Inspiring Youth
Hunter's true impact would be felt not in palaces and castles but in community venues across the UK.
The charity in his name, set up before his death, would provide no-cost coaching 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 platform to help get kids off the street," one coach said.
The Foundation helped lay the groundwork for a major coaching programme, which has provided playing opportunities to children internationally.
"Paul would have loved what we've done with the sport and where it is today," a leading figure in the sport stated.
Never Forgotten: A Lasting Presence
Archive videos of their son's matches via the internet help his parents stay "in touch with his memory".
"I can bring it up and I can watch Paul whenever I wish," Kristina says. "It's a comfort!"
"We are happy to speak about Paul," she concludes. "Initially it was painful, but I'd rather somebody talk than him not be mentioned at all."
Although he never won the World Championship, the widespread belief that Hunter would have secured snooker's ultimate trophy is a part of the sport's legend.
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 accomplishments, 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.
