In the 2003 World Snooker Championship, he defeated Allister Carter 10–5, Matthew Stevens 13–6 and Peter Ebdon 13–12 to reach the semi-finals. In his best-of-33-frames semi-final, Hunter established a 15–9 lead over Ken Doherty, however he only could win one of the next nine frames, and lost the match 16–17. The match was later shown as a "Crucible classic" on the BBC during the original dates for the 2020 World Snooker Championship when the event was delayed. Despite the loss, he earned a place in the world's top eight in the 2003-2004 world rankings for the first time in his career, having been ranked number nine for the previous two seasons.