Defending champion Mark Williams was the number 1 seed with World Champion John Higgins seeded 2. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings.
In this tournament, Mark Williams, the previous year's winner, was given the highest ranking as the number 1 seed, and John Higgins, the current World Champion, received the second-highest ranking. The positions for the top 16 players in the world rankings were decided.