Peter Lines (born 11 December 1969) is an English professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the
2018 Paul Hunter Classic
The 2018 Paul Hunter Classic was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place in August 2018 at the Stadthalle in FΓΌrth, Germany. It was the third ranking event of the 2018/2019 season. The tournament is named in honour of forme ...
. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the father of fellow professional snooker player
Oliver Lines
Oliver Lines (born 16 June 1995) is an English professional snooker player who practices at Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. He is the son of professional snooker player Peter Lines.
Career Amateur
Lines switched sports from football to snook ...
.
In January 2022, Lines won the
2022 UK Seniors Championship, part of the
World Seniors Tour
The World Seniors Tour is the professional snooker tour for senior players aged 40 and over, running in parallel to the main World Snooker Tour. Founded in 2017 by Snooker Legends, it has been run since 2018 by World Seniors Snooker, a subsidiary ...
. In the same month, he was disciplined by the
WPBSA
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...
for breaching conduct rules and bringing the game into disrepute. The sanction followed an incident at the
2021 Northern Ireland Open qualifiers, where Lines accused his opponent
Xiao Guodong
Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships.
Career 2007β2010
Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...
of cheating and challenged him to a fight.
Career
Lines turned professional in 1991, and in his debut season reached the last 32 stage twice, at the 1992
Strachan Open and the 1992
Asian Open. Wins were hard to come by for him during the next few seasons, although he qualifyied for the 1995
International Open, beating the likes of
Fergal O'Brien
Fergal O'Brien (born 8 March 1972) is an Irish professional snooker player who plays on the main professional tour since 1991. Ranked within the world's top 64 players from 1994 to 2022, he has reached his highest position of 9th in the 2000β ...
and
Doug Mountjoy
Doug Mountjoy (8 June 1942 β 14 February 2021) was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Glamorgan, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the ...
in the process. Lines briefly fell off tour in 1997 but returned immediately via Qualifying School, and his results started to improve. 1997/98 season saw him reach the last 32 of the Welsh Open and Scottish Open before coming through qualifying for the
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
to reach
The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692β93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
for the first (and to date only) time in his career; there he was beaten 10β4 by
John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...
but not before compiling a 141 total clearance - the highest break by a debutant. As a result, he finished the season ranked 53, and rose to 42 after the next season despite having failed to reach another last 32.
Lines scored his best ever result at the 1999
China International as he sensationally defeated
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
and
Peter Ebdon
Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...
en route to his first career quarter-final, where he lost 4β5 to
Brian Morgan.
Following this result, however, he started to struggle for form and to slip down the rankings, before an eventual relegation from the tour in 2004. He briefly regained his place in 2006 but was again relegated after another poor season.
Lines did not give up however, and thanks to working with coach Steve Prest had a successful
2007β08 season in the
PIOS
The International Open Series (often referred to as Pontins International Open Series or PIOS for sponsorship purposes), was a series of snooker tournaments that ran from the 2001/02 season until the 2009/10 season. It was originally called the ...
, where he won one event and reached the final of another to finish second in the top 8 qualifying for the main tour. He carried his fine form into the
2008β09 season as he performed consistently to finish in the top 64 and maintain his tour place. Better was to come during the
next season, as Lines reached the last 64 of the
Shanghai Masters and the last 48 of the
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
, before a remarkable run in the
UK Championship
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...
. He defeated
Xiao Guodong
Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships.
Career 2007β2010
Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...
,
Ian McCulloch and
Nigel Bond
Nigel Bond (born 15 November 1965) is an English former professional snooker player.
Bond competed on the main tour from 1989 to 2022, and was ranked within the world's top 16 players between 1992 and 1999, peaking at 5th for the 1996β97 s ...
to qualify for the venue stages; there he convincingly beat
Marco Fu
Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian ...
9β3, then caused an upset by edging out
Mark Williams 9β8 to reach his second career quarter-final. Despite the 5β9 loss to
Stephen Maguire
Stephen Maguire (born 13 March 1981) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won six major ranking tournaments, including the 2004 UK Championship, and has twice since reached the finals of that event. Maguire turned professional i ...
, this performance could've allowed Lines to return to the top 48 of the world rankings, but another drop in form resulted in three opening round defeats in the remaining tournaments of the season to leave him ranked 50.
2010β11 season saw Lines recording a number of good results in the newly introduced minor-ranking
PTC events, with three last 16 appearances and a quarter-final at the
Event 5 to his name. However, his performances in the major tournaments were less successful, as aside from the
UK Championship
The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...
last 48 appearance he won only one more match; as a result he couldn't improve his ranking at the end of the season. Lines qualified for the
2011 UK Championship by defeating
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter.
As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...
6β5 in round 4 of qualifying. He played
Martin Gould
Martin Gould (born 14 September 1981) is an English professional snooker player from Pinner in the London Borough of Harrow. He has appeared in four ranking finals and won one ranking title, the 2016 German Masters.
Career
Gould began his prof ...
in the last 32 and was beaten 6β2. Lines qualified for the
2013 German Masters by defeating
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
5β3 in round 4 of qualifying. He played
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player, commentator and radio presenter.
As an amateur, Doherty won the Irish Amateur Championship twice, the World Under-21 Amateur Championship and the World Amateur C ...
in the last 32 and won 5β3, before losing 3β5 to
Marco Fu
Marco Fu Ka-chun, MH, JP (, born 8 January 1978) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player. He is a three-time snooker world rankings, ranking event winner, having won the 2007 Grand Prix (snooker), 2007 Grand Prix, the 2013 Australian ...
in the last 16. In June 2014 he won the
Pink Ribbon
The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer. Pink ribb ...
proβam event defeating
Lee Walker
Lee Walker (born 11 February 1976) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who is the reigning World Seniors Champion. He is both an official WPBSA and SightRight coach.
Career
After turning professional in 1994 at the age of 18, Walker r ...
4β1 in the final. Lines the Yorkshireman beat defending champion
Neil Robertson
Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former world champion and former world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United ...
on a run to the last 32 of the
2016 UK Championship. In March 2017 he won the
World Seniors Championship
The World Seniors Championship is an invitational seniors snooker tournament which has been played under different formats. As of 2020 the minimum age is 40, but it was 45 in 2011 and 2012.
History
The event was first held in 1991 with 16 pla ...
defeating
John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...
4β0 in the final. Lines regained full professional status for the
2017β18 season by coming through an EBSA playoff. He defeated Zack Richardson 4β0 in the final round. He reached the last 16 on two occasions during the 2017/18 campaign, at the
2017 Paul Hunter Classic and the
2017 European Masters. During the 2019-2020 season Lines reached the last 16 of the
2020 Snooker Shoot Out. Lines famously has a 4-3 (excluding the
Shoot-Out) winning head-to-head record against 4-time World Champion
John Higgins
John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
.
On 7 January 2022, Lines won the
UK Seniors Championship
The UK Seniors Championship is a snooker tournament, part of the World Seniors Tour.
History
The event was created in 2017, as a part of the World Seniors Tour. The first UK Senior championship took place in October 2017, and was won by Jimmy W ...
, defeating
David Lilley
David William Lilley (born 31 October 1977 in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former professional footballer who usually plays at centre back but has also played at right back. Lilley was most recently the manager of Bellshill Athl ...
4β1 in the final.
On 13 January 2022, the
WPBSA
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards based in Bristol, England. It owns and publishes the official rules of the two sports and engages in promotion ...
's disciplinary committee announced that it had fined Lines Β£2,500 and ordered him to pay costs of Β£5,464.80 for breaching conduct rules and bringing the game into disrepute. While playing
Xiao Guodong
Xiao Guodong (, born 10 February 1989) is a Chinese professional snooker player. He turned professional in 2007 after winning the Asian Under-21 Championships.
Career 2007β2010
Xiao appeared as a wildcard in the 2007 China Open, and beat t ...
at the
2021 Northern Ireland Open qualifiers in Leicester, Lines had become angry over what he regarded as the incorrect replacement of balls after referee Brendan Moore called a foul and a miss against his opponent. The committee heard that Lines confronted Xiao in the players' lounge after the match, accused him of cheating, swore at him, and challenged him to a fight, leading to security personnel removing Lines from the lounge. Lines apologised to Xiao shortly afterward, and the committee took his apology and his "unblemished career in snooker" into account when issuing its ruling.
Personal life
He is married to Sarah and has three children, Penny, Leo and
Oliver. Both he and Oliver practise at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
Performance and rankings timeline
Career finals
Non-ranking finals: 4 (3 titles)
Pro-am finals: 7 (5 titles)
Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)
References
External links
Peter Linesat ''worldsnooker.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lines, Peter
Snooker players from Leeds
Living people
1969 births
World champions in snooker
English snooker players