| Asian Classic | 1R | 4-5 | Gary Wilkinson |
| Grand Prix | QF | 3-5 | John Parrott |
| UK | 2R | 5-9 | Paul Hunter |
| German | Qual. | 1-5 | Andy Hicks |
| Welsh | 3R | 4-5 | Stephen Hendry |
| International | 2R | 2-5 | Dene O'Kane |
| European | SF | 0-6 | John Higgins |
| Thailand Open | 2R | 4-5 | Nigel Bond. |
| British | 1R | 4-5 | Paul McPhillips |
| World | SF | 13-17 | Stephen Hendry |
Wattana bye bye his fan in 1997 Embassy World
1996-1997 Season We can say that this season James Wattana got just what he needed to stay in the top sixteenth in the next season ranking when he reached the semifinal round of Embassy. This is the third match in this season that James met Hendry.
The first time in Welsh Open, Hendry beat James so close at 5-4 in the third round. And the second time in European Open, Wattana took back his face, having a victory over Hendry with the score 5-2 and went on to play John Higgins in the semifinal. Higgins whitewashed James 6-0.
Subsequently, James's future to stay in top 16 totally depended on the Embassy World Champion. James beat Greame Dott, Stephen Lee and John Parrott to reach the semifinal round against Hendry, another time after the loss 9-16 to Jimmy White in 1993. But, Hendry was still Hendry, beat James again 17-13 frames even though both leveled 8-8 at the first session.