At the following year's Masters, he retained his title. He defeated Stephen Lee 6–3 in the first round, Peter Ebdon 6–5 in the quarter-finals and Alan McManus 6–5 in the semi-finals to reach the final, where he met Mark Williams. Hunter lost the first five frames of the final, but won the match and tournament 10–9. Hunter was only the third player to retain the Masters, following Cliff Thorburn and Stephen Hendry. Hunter also won his second ranking event the same year, defeating Ken Doherty 9–2 in the final to take the 2002 Welsh Open title. This was his second win at the Welsh Open. Hunter was later defeated 9–10 in the first round of the 2002 World Championship by Quinten Hann. Later in 2002, Hunter won his third ranking event, the British Open, defeating Ian McCulloch 9–4 in the final. As defending Masters champion, Hunter progressed to the semi-finals of the 2003 event, but lost 3–6 to Mark Williams.