The next season saw Scanlon perform poorly in every tournament he entered apart from the 1999 World Championship. Having earned only £4,760 from ten events, Scanlon beat Darryn Walker 10–9, Shokat Ali 10–7 having trailed 4–7, and Paul Sweeny 10–5 from 4–5 behind, to set up a last-48 meeting with Fergal O'Brien. In their match, Scanlon held O'Brien to 5–5, but lost 7–10. As a result of this performance, and having earned a further £9,250 in prize money, Scanlon remained a professional despite being ranked outside the top 64.