Peter Lines has had a long and successful career in snooker. He has reached the final of both the English Amateur Championship as well as the quarter-finals in the China Open. Since 1991, he has been a professional. He reached the quarter-finals at the Strachan Open and Asian Open in the 1990s. In 1998, he qualified for the televised stages of the World Championship for the first time.
Lines' career is not remarkable, but his performance in the last few year of his career has been impressive. For the first time in his career, he reached the top 64 of the Order of Merit, and he even made it to the quarter-finals of a ranking event. His season's highlight was his run at German Masters. He made it to the semi-finals but came so close to winning.
After a promising start, his 2011/12 season was dreadful. As the season progressed, the pressure increased and he began to lose matches at his four ranking events. He was just 57th in the European Tour rankings at the close of the year. He was able to qualify for the World Championship qualifiers and secured a spot on the European Tour for another year.
He was able to compete in two major tournaments, defeating Joe Perry and Ian McCulloch. He was also a qualifier in the Players Tour Championships (PTC) series. However, his performance wasn't enough to keep him on the main tour.
In 2010, he won the UK Championship, but he was again relegated to the PTC events after the 2015/16 season. He continued to play in amateur tournaments as a result.
Lines' conduct during a match against Chinese pro billiards and snooker associations (WPBSA), was deemed inappropriate by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. The World Snooker Tour has received a complaint about Lines' behavior during a match in China and has initiated an investigation. The World Snooker Tour received a formal complaint from Xiao Guodong's group. It is likely that the matter will be referred the World Snooker Tribunal.
The case was heard December 16th, and Lines was sentenced by the WPBSA to a $500 fine. There was however an interesting aspect to Lines' fine. He was found guilty of violating two rules related to player conduct.
The first rule involved his replacement of the white ball after a foul and miss award. In such situations, professional players will often temporarily suspend play. Brendan Moore (Lines' opponent) fought with him on this issue. Both claimed Lines made an error. Lines, however, maintained that he was right.
The World Snooker Tour, on the other hand, stated that Lines used "swear words" and intimidation during the match. Lines threatened to fight outside.