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. He had few wins in the next few seasons, although he qualified for the 1995 International Open, beating players including 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. The 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 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.
After working with coach Steve Prest, Lines had a successful 2007–08 season in the Pontins International Open Series. He won one event and reached the final of another to finish second in the top 8, thus qualifying for the main tour. He carried his good form into the 2008–09 season, finishing in the top 64 to retain his tour place. During the next season, he reached the last 64 of the Shanghai Masters and the last 48 of the Grand Prix, before a strong run in the UK Championship. He defeated Xiao Guodong, Ian McCulloch and Nigel Bond to qualify for the venue stages; there he beat Marco Fu 9–3, before causing 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 have 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.
The 2010–11 season saw Lines record a number of good results in the newly introduced minor-ranking PTC events, with three last 16 appearances and a quarter-final at Event 5. However, his performances in the major tournaments were less successful; aside from a last 48 appearance in the UK Championship, he won only one more match. As a result, he could not 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. He 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. Lines 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.
He regained full professional status for the 2017–18 season by coming through an EBSA playoff, where 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. He is known for having 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. 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. 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.
In January 2022, Lines won the UK Seniors Championship, defeating David Lilley 4–1 in the final. He finished the 2022–23 season ranked 73rd in the world rankings and was relegated from the professional tour.
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 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 2023/24 2024/25RankingFrom the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the seasonNew players don't have a ranking7311112912911190534245597483He was an amateur6450505357615775Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points8973Ranking tournamentsChampionship LeagueTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventRR2RRRRRRREnglish OpenTournament Not Held2R1R1R1RWDLQ1RAABritish OpenLQLQLQLQLQLQALQLQ1R1R1R1RATournament Not Held1R1RAANorthern Ireland OpenTournament Not Held1R1R2R1R1RLQLQAAInternational ChampionshipTournament Not HeldLQ2RLQLQLQLQ1RLQNot HeldAAUK ChampionshipLQLQLQLQLQ1R1R1RLQLQLQLQLQAALQALQQFLQ1RLQ2R2R1R3R3R1R1R1R4RLQALQShoot OutTournament Not HeldNon-Ranking Event1R2R2R4R1R2R1RAScottish OpenThe event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)NHLQLQ2RLQLQ2R1R1RLQLQLQLQTournament Not HeldMRNot Held1R3R1R2R1RLQAAGerman MastersThe event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)Tournament Not HeldLQLQLQNRTournament Not HeldLQLQ2R1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQAWelsh Open1RLQLQLQLQ1R2RLQ1R2RLQLQLQAALQALQLQLQLQLQ2R1R2RA1R2R1R1RLQLQAWorld OpenThe event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)LQLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQAALQALQLQLQLQLQLQNot HeldLQLQLQLQNot HeldAWorld Grand PrixTournament Not HeldNRDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQPlayers ChampionshipThe event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQTour ChampionshipTournament Not HeldDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQDNQWorld ChampionshipLQLQLQLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQLQLQALQALQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQNon-ranking tournamentsThe MastersLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQLQAAAALQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWorld Seniors ChampionshipATournament Not HeldLQAAALQLQWANHAASF1RAFormer ranking tournamentsClassicLQTournament Not HeldStrachan OpenThe event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)2RMRNRTournament Not HeldAsian ClassicThe event was called the Dubai Classic (1991/1992–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)LQ1RLQLQLQLQTournament Not HeldMalta Grand PrixNot HeldNon-Ranking EventLQNRTournament Not HeldThailand MastersThe event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)2RLQLQLQLQ1RLQLQLQLQLQNRNot HeldNRTournament Not HeldIrish MastersNon-Ranking EventLQLQANHNRTournament Not HeldNorthern Ireland TrophyTournament Not HeldNRLQALQTournament Not HeldBahrain ChampionshipTournament Not HeldLQTournament Not HeldWuxi ClassicThe event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)Tournament Not HeldNon-Ranking EventLQ3RLQTournament Not HeldAustralian Goldfields OpenThe event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995–1995/1996) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)Not HeldNon-RankingTournament Not HeldLQLQLQLQLQTournament Not HeldShanghai MastersTournament Not HeldALQLQLQLQLQ2RLQLQLQLQNon-RankingNot HeldNon-RankingPaul Hunter ClassicThe event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)Tournament Not HeldPro-am EventMinor-Ranking Event3R4RSFNRTournament Not HeldIndian OpenTournament Not HeldLQ1RNHLQLQ1RTournament Not HeldChina OpenThe event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)Tournament Not HeldNRWRQFLQLQNot HeldAALQALQLQLQLQLQ1R1R1RLQLQLQTournament Not HeldRiga MastersThe event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)Tournament Not HeldMinor-RankLQLQ1RLQTournament Not HeldChina ChampionshipTournament Not HeldNRLQLQLQTournament Not HeldWST Pro SeriesTournament Not HeldRRTournament Not HeldTurkish MastersTournament Not HeldLQNot HeldGibraltar OpenTournament Not HeldMR1R1R3R1R1R2RNot HeldWST ClassicTournament Not Held1RNot HeldEuropean MastersThe event was called the European Open (1991/1992–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)LQLQLQLQLQLQNHLQNot HeldLQLQLQAALQNRTournament Not HeldLQ3R2RLQ2RLQLQANHFormer non-ranking tournamentsShoot OutTournament Not Held3R1R2R1R1R2RRanking EventTournament Not HeldAAANHAAAAAAAANot HeldLQNot Held Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournamentDQ 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.
Career finals
Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1998 Lee Walker 5–4
Seniors finals: 2 (2 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 2017 World Seniors Championship John Parrott 4–0Winner 2. 2022 UK Seniors Championship David Lilley 4–1
Pro-am finals: 7 (5 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 1993 Pontins Autumn Open Andrew Hannah 5–3Winner 2. 2008 Pontins Pro-Am - Event 3 Judd Trump 4–3Winner 3. 2008 Pontins Pro-Am - Event 5 Paul Davison 4–1Winner 4. 2008 Pontins Pro-Am - Event 6 Stephen Craigie 4–1Runner-up 1. 2009 Pontins Pro-Am - Event 3 Judd Trump 2–5Runner-up 2. 2012 Pink Ribbon Stuart Bingham 0–4Winner 5. 2014 Pink Ribbon Lee Walker 4–1
Amateur finals: 5 (3 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 1996 English Amateur Championship Stuart Bingham 4–8Winner 1. 2007 PIOS – Event 5 Daniel Wells 6–5Runner-up 2. 2008 PIOS – Event 7 Jamie Jones 2–6Winner 2. 2024 Q Tour – Event 7 Umut Dikme 5–1Winner 3. 2025 Q Tour – Event 2 Peter Devlin 4–3
References
External links