Peter Lines has had a long and successful career in snooker. He has appeared at the final of the English Amateur Championship, and in 1999 made it to the quarter-finals of the China Open. He began his professional career in 1991. In the early 1990s, his quarter-finals reached at the Strachan Open as well as the Asian Open. In 1998, he qualified for the televised stages of the World Championship for the first time.
Although his career is generally unremarkable in nature, Lines' performance during the last few decades of his career was more than admirable. 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 in his 2011/12 year, he found himself under immense 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 able, however, to get a place on the tour for an additional year.
He won two more major tournaments and defeated Joe Perry and Ian McCulloch. He also won a qualifier for the Players Tour Championship (PTC) series, but his performance was not enough to keep him in the main tour.
In 2010, he won his first UK Championship. However, he was relegated back to the PTC events in the 2015/16 seasons. In the end, he continued to participate in amateur tournaments.
Lines' behavior in a match with China Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), has been ruled unprofessional. The World Snooker Tour has received a complaint about Lines' behavior during a match in China and has initiated an investigation. The World Snooker Tribunal will likely be referred to the formal complaint made by Xiao Guodong's staff.
The case was heard by the WPBSA on December 16th. Lines was fined for his offence. However, there was an interesting aspect to the fine: he was found guilty of breaking two rules relating to player conduct.
After a foul or miss, the first rule was his replacement of white ball. Professional players often temporarily suspend their cues when faced with this kind of 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.
However, the World Snooker Tour claimed that Lines used "swear terms and intimidation" during their match. Lines threatened to fight outside of the arena.