It was held from 11 to 16 March 2003 at the Palace Hotel in Torquay, England.

[3] This marked the first and only time when any of the editions of this tournament was not held outside the British Isles.

Ronnie O'Sullivan won his 12th ranking title by defeating Stephen Hendry 9–6 in the final.

[2] O'Sullivan went on to win back-to-back ranking titles – his next coming at the 2003 Irish Masters, just two weeks later, where he triumphed over John Higgins in a deciding frame.

The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings.