1998-1999 Season Out of nine ranking tournaments, Wattana lost six of them at the first round.. and we can see from the table that those guys who beat james were not quite well known players.

Started at the world no.15 in this season, the best round James went to is the quaterfinal round of Regal Welsh Open, defeated 2-5 by the Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan.

And again, his quest to stay in top of the first sixteen players of the world was plight when he was drawn again Marco Fu in the first round of 1999 Embassy Wolrd Championship. Nevertheless, with more experience in playing in Crucible theatre, James defeated Fu 10-8 moving to the second round against Stephen Hendry and he needed to pass Hendry to stay in top16 next season. But, James Wattana even his form was considered as on track, having produced several century breaks. He was defeated by hands of Hendry another time.

As a result of season's ending, his seed drop from 15 to 22 nd for the next season. From now on, James must to work harder to have chance to play in the main draws of ranking tournaments.