By Elliott West
Introduction
Peter Lines is a seasoned player on the main tour. One half of a unique father/son relationship that both play professionally, both he and Oliver often have the odd shock up their sleeves, having knocked out some of the big hitters in the sport. Peter now 51, recently fell off the tour but courageously navigated his way through the perilous Q School to regain his professional card. Lines from Leeds has been a regular on the circuit since 1991 and uses the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds as his practice base.
Career
Peter Lines was born in 1969 and like so many players who now grace the green baize, fell in love with the game and decided to choose it as his career path. Lines made his first impression in the sport when he won the pro-amateur Pontins Amateur Open in 1993, defeating Andrew Hannah 5-3. This was the first of many victories at the famous holiday camp with three further successes in events in 2008 and coming runner-up to Judd Trump in 2009, losing 2-5 in Event 3. He also won the Pink Ribbon charity tournament in 2014, defeating Lee Walker 4-1, having lost the previous year to Stuart Bingham 0-4.
Stuart Bingham also featured in Peter’s final of the English Amateur Championship in 1996 where Lines was defeated by the seasoned Essex snooker player 4-8. Lines also struck gold when he won the PIOS – Event 5 in 2007, defeating Daniel Wells 6-5, coming runner-up in 2008 in Event 7 when he lost to Wales’ Jamie Jones 2-6.
On the professional circuit, Lines had a promising start, reaching the last 32 stages twice in his first season, the 1992 Strachan Open and the 1992 Asian Open. He only qualified for the World Championship once, in the 1997/98 season, going on to be defeated by John Parrott 10-4 in the first round.
His best career run has to be in the 1999 China International where he sensationally defeated Peter Ebdon and John Higgins to reach his first career quarter-final, going on to lose to Brian Morgan in a narrow defeat 4-5. Despite several periods off the tour due to relegation, Peter didn’t give up hope and started working with the coach Steve Priest. A close coaching partnership helped Lines to reach the last of the Shanghai Masters in the 2010-11 season, the last 48 of the Grand Prix and qualifying for the UK Championship, beating Marco Fu 9-3 and getting past Mark Williams 9-8 to reach his second professional quarter-final before losing to Stephen Maguire 5-9. Success also came in the non-ranking Merseyside Professional Championship in 1998 when he defeated Lee Walker 5-4 and in 2017 when Peter won the World Seniors defeating John Parrott 4-0 in the final.
A Bright Future
Despite falling off the main tour last season, Peter Lines has managed again to regain his tour card via Q School. With the start of the new snooker season now underway, Lines has made an impressive start in the Championship League in Leicester. Impressive wins have led to Peter topping Group 8 and fending off a challenge from Mark Williams to advance to the second stage of the competition. This is a clear example of when a player digs deep and reaps the benefits.
Williams had made a great start to the competition and was hit favourite to win the group. He produced a devastating 3-0 victory against Hammad Miah in his first match. However, Mark was outplayed by Peter in his second match and inflicted a 3-0 victory over the Welshman, the highlight being a century break by Lines in the second frame.
The Writing on the wall for Williams started when Lines played Hammad Miah and beat him 3-1, leaving Peter in charge of the group. Despite Jak Jones also nipping on Lines’ heels, Jones failed to take advantage in his match against Mark to top the group. Williams won the match 3-1 with both Lines and Williams level on six points each in the table. Mark was eliminated from the competition because Peter won his last match and Lines topped the table and progressed to the second round.
