Peter Lines

Peter Lines

Lines at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1969-12-11) 11 December 1969 (age 54) Leeds, England
Sport country	England
Professional	1991–2004, 2006/2007, 2008–2016, 2017–2023
Highest ranking	42 (1999/2000)
Best ranking finish	Semi-final (x1)

Peter Lines (born 11 December 1969) is an English former professional snooker player. He has reached the semi-finals of one ranking tournament, the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. He reached his highest ranking, 42nd in the world, in 1999. He is the father of professional snooker player Oliver Lines. In January 2022, he won the 2022 UK Seniors Championship, part of the World Seniors Tour.

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 and Doug Mountjoy 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 to reach The Crucible for the first (and to date only) time in his career; there he was beaten 10–4 by John Parrott 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 and Peter Ebdon en route to his first career quarter-final, where he lost 4–5 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 2007–08 season in the PIOS, 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 2008–09 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, before a remarkable run in the UK Championship. He defeated Xiao Guodong, Ian McCulloch and Nigel Bond to qualify for the venue stages; there he convincingly beat Marco Fu 9–3, then caused an upset by edging out Mark Williams 9–8 to reach his second career quarter-final. Despite the 5–9 loss to Stephen Maguire, 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.

2010–11 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 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 6–5 in round 4 of qualifying. He played Martin Gould in the last 32 and was beaten 6–2. Lines qualified for the 2013 German Masters by defeating John Higgins 5–3 in round 4 of qualifying. He played Ken Doherty in the last 32 and won 5–3, before losing 3–5 to Marco Fu in the last 16. In June 2014 he won the Pink Ribbon pro–am event defeating Lee Walker 4–1 in the final. ^[1] Lines the Yorkshireman beat defending champion Neil Robertson on a run to the last 32 of the 2016 UK Championship. In March 2017 he won the World Seniors Championship defeating John Parrott 4–0 in the final. Lines regained full professional status for the 2017–18 season by coming through an EBSA playoff. He defeated Zack Richardson 4–0 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.

While playing Xiao Guodong at the 2021 Northern Ireland Open qualifiers in Leicester, Lines became angry over what he regarded as the incorrect replacement of balls after referee Brendan Moore called a foul and a miss against Xiao. ^[2] Lines confronted his opponent in the players' lounge after the match, accused him of cheating, swore at him, and challenged him to a fight, which led to security personnel removing Lines from the area. ^[3] A WPBSA disciplinary committee fined him £2,500 over the incident and ordered him to pay costs of £5,464.80 for breaching conduct rules and bringing the game into disrepute. ^{[4] [5]}

In January 2022, Lines won the UK Seniors Championship, defeating David Lilley 4–1 in the final. ^[6] He finished the 2022–23 season ranked 73rd in the world rankings and was relegated from the professional tour. ^[7]

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. ^[8]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02	2002/ 03	2003/ 04	2004/ 05	2005/ 06	2006/ 07	2007/ 08	2008/ 09	2009/ 10	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2012/ 13	2013/ 14	2014/ 15	2015/ 16	2016/ 17	2017/ 18	2018/ 19	2019/ 20	2020/ 21	2021/ 22	2022/ 23
Ranking [9] [nb 1]	[nb 2]	73	111	129	129	111	90	53	42	45	59	74	83	[nb 3]	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	64	50	50	53	57	61	57	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	75	[nb 4]	89	[nb 4]	73
Ranking tournaments
Championship League	Tournament Not Held																Non-Ranking Event													RR	2R	RR
European Masters [nb 5]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NH	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held								LQ	3R	2R	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ
British Open	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	1R	1R	A	Tournament Not Held																1R	1R
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held																									1R	1R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	LQ	QF	LQ	1R	LQ	2R	2R	1R	3R	3R	1R	1R	1R	4R	LQ
Scottish Open [nb 6]	NH	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held								MR	Not Held			1R	3R	1R	2R	1R	LQ	A
English Open	Tournament Not Held																									2R	1R	1R	1R	WD	LQ	1R
World Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																							NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held																			Non-Ranking Event						1R	2R	2R	4R	1R	2R	1R
German Masters [nb 7]	Tournament Not Held				LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held											LQ	LQ	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	1R	2R	A	1R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ
Players Championship [nb 8]	Tournament Not Held																			DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
WST Classic	Tournament Not Held																															1R
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held																											DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Six-red World Championship	Tournament Not Held																	A	A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Not Held		LQ
World Seniors Championship	A	Tournament Not Held																		LQ	A	A	A	LQ	LQ	W	A	NH	A	A	SF	1R
Former ranking tournaments
Classic	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open [nb 9]	2R	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic [nb 10]	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters [nb 11]	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	NR	Not Held			NR	Tournament Not Held
Irish Masters	Non-Ranking Event											LQ	LQ	A	NH	NR	Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy	Tournament Not Held														NR	LQ	A	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Bahrain Championship	Tournament Not Held																	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Wuxi Classic [nb 12]	Tournament Not Held																	Non-Ranking Event				LQ	3R	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open [nb 13]	Not Held			Non-Ranking		Tournament Not Held															LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters	Tournament Not Held																A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Non-Ranking		Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic [nb 14]	Tournament Not Held													Pro-am Event						Minor-Ranking Event						3R	4R	SF	NR	Not Held
Indian Open	Tournament Not Held																						LQ	1R	NH	LQ	LQ	1R	Tournament Not Held
China Open [nb 15]	Tournament Not Held						NR	WR	QF	LQ	LQ	Not Held		A	A	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters [nb 16]	Tournament Not Held																							Minor-Rank		LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	Not Held
International Championship	Tournament Not Held																					LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	Not Held
China Championship	Tournament Not Held																									NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held
World Open [nb 17]	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	Not Held
WST Pro Series	Tournament Not Held																													RR	Not Held
Turkish Masters	Tournament Not Held																														LQ	NH
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held																								MR	1R	1R	3R	1R	1R	2R	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Shoot Out	Tournament Not Held																			3R	1R	2R	1R	1R	2R	Ranking Event

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament
DQ	disqualified from the tournament

NH / Not Held				event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event				means an event is/was a pro-am event.

1. From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
2. New players don't have a ranking
3. He was an amateur
4. Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
5. The event was called the European Open (1991/1992-1996/1997 and 2001/2002-2003/2004), Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
6. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
7. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
8. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013) and the Players Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
9. The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
10. The event was called the Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and the Asian Classic (1996/1997)
11. The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
12. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
13. The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
14. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
15. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
16. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
17. The event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010), the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004) and the Haikou World Open (2011/2012–2013/2014)

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 4 (3 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1998	Merseyside Professional Championship	Lee Walker	5–4
Runner-up	1,	2010	World Seniors Championship Qualifying Event	Nigel Bond	3–4
Winner	2.	2017	World Seniors Championship	John Parrott	4–0
Winner	3.	2022	UK Seniors Championship	David Lilley	4–1

Pro-am finals: 7 (5 titles)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1993	Pontins Autumn Open	Andrew Hannah	5–3
Winner	2008	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 3	Judd Trump	4–3 [10]
Winner	2008	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 5	Paul Davison	4–1 [11]
Winner	2008	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 6	Stephen Craigie	4–1 [12]
Runner-up	2009	Pontins Pro-Am - Event 3	Judd Trump	2–5 [13]
Runner-up	2012	Pink Ribbon	Stuart Bingham	0–4
Winner	2014	Pink Ribbon	Lee Walker	4–1

Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1996	English Amateur Championship	Stuart Bingham	4–8
Winner	2007	PIOS – Event 5	Daniel Wells	6–5
Runner-up	2008	PIOS – Event 7	Jamie Jones	2–6
Winner	2024	Q Tour – Event 7	Umut Dikme	5–1

References

1. "Pink Ribbon 2014". On Q Promotions. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
2. "Peter Lines is fined after offering a rival a fight outside, but he keeps his snooker board job. » Brinkwire". Brinkwire. 15 January 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
3. "Lines fined for Xiao confrontation". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
4. "WPBSA Statement: 14th January 2022". World Snooker. 14 January 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
5. "Peter Lines fined over Xiao Guodong confrontation". 14 January 2022. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
6. "UK Seniors Championship - Peter Lines claims maiden title after Jimmy White stunned by David Lilley semi-final comebaclk". 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
7. Huart, Matt (8 April 2023). "World Championship 2023 | Tour Survival Blog". WPBSA. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
8. "David Grace: Bramley Man on cue for career as snooker professional". Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
9. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
10. "2008 Pontins Pro-Am – Event 3". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009.
11. "2008 Pontins Pro-Am – Event 5". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009.
12. "2008 Pontins Pro-Am – Event 6". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009.
13. "2009 Pontins Pro-Am – Event 3". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 25 July 2009.

External links

• Peter Lines at the World Snooker Tour