the ninth sumathi awards ceremony was celebrated in year 2003, where 36 awards were given at the ceremony under 6 categories. in the best award category, sumathi award for the best teledrama actor was won by mahendra perera and best teledrama actress was sasanthi jayasekara. in popular award category, channa perera won the most popular actor award for the third consecutive time, whereas kanchana mendis won the most popular actress award. the u.w. sumathipala memorial award was given to, veteran actors sathischandra edirisinghe and robin fernando. out of 36 awards given, teledrama "hada wila sakmana" won 7 awards, including best actor, actress, director and television series.