Peter Lines has enjoyed a long career playing snooker. He has been to the final of English Amateur Championship. In 1999, he reached the quarterfinals for the China Open. When he became a professional, 1991 was the year he began to enjoy success on professional circuit. He reached the quarter-finals at the Strachan Open and Asian Open in the 1990s. 1998 saw him qualify for the televised World Championship stage.
Lines' career is largely unremarkable but his last few years have been quite impressive. He reached the top 64 of Order of Merit for the first time in his professional career. He even reached the quarter-finals of an event ranking him. The most impressive part of his season was a run at the German Masters, in which he reached the semi-finals and came close to victory.
After a promising start to his 2011/12 season, he suddenly found himself under pressure. As the season progressed he felt more pressure and began losing matches in his final four ranking events. At the end of the year, he was ranked just 57th on the European Tour. He was blessed with a second year of tour and qualified for the World Championship qualifiers.
He was able to compete in two major tournaments, defeating Joe Perry and Ian McCulloch. He also won a qualifier to the Players Tour Championship (PTC), however, his performance was not good enough to keep the tour open for him.
In 2010, he won his first UK Championship. However, he was relegated back to the PTC events in the 2015/16 seasons. He has been playing in amateur tournaments ever since.
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) has ruled that Lines' behaviour during a match in China was not appropriate. The World Snooker Tour received a complaint and has begun an investigation into Lines' actions. The World Snooker Tribunal will likely be referred to the formal complaint made by Xiao Guodong's staff.
On December 16, Lines was brought before the WPBSA and sentenced to a fine. The fine had an interesting side: Lines was found guilty for violating two rules regarding player conduct.
The first rule involved his replacement of the white ball after a foul and miss award. It is not uncommon for professional players to temporarily hang up their cues in this situation. Brendan Moore, Lines’ opponent, was angry at him about this issue. Both claimed Lines made an error. Lines, however, maintained that he was right.
The World Snooker Tour stated that Lines used intimidation and swear words during the match. Lines threatened to fight outside.