Peter Lines has enjoyed a long career playing snooker. He reached the final of the English Amateur Championship in 1999, and made it to the quarterfinals of China Open in 1999. Since 1991, he has been a professional. In the 1990s, he reached the quarter-finals in both the Strachan Open (Asian Open) and Strachan Open. 1998 was the first year he reached the televised stages at the World Championship.
Lines' career is not remarkable, but his performance in the last few year of his career has been impressive. For the first ever time in his life, he made it to 64th place on the Order of Merit. His most memorable season was his run at the German Masters. He reached the semi-finals, and even came within touching distance of winning.
He found himself suddenly under pressure after a promising start for his 2011/12 season. As the season progressed, the pressure increased and he began to lose matches at his four ranking events. At the end, he was ranked only 57th on European Tour. Fortunately for him, he secured a place on the tour for a further year, and he was also able to make it to the qualifiers of the World Championship.
He won two more major tournaments and defeated 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 a UK Championship. But, he was again demoted to the PTC after the 2015/16 year. As a result, he has continued to take part in amateur tournaments.
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 received Lines' complaint. They have launched 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. An interesting aspect of the fine was that Lines was found guilty by two rules related to player behavior.
The first rule was that he replaced the white ball with his own 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) fought with him on this issue. Both Lines and Moore claimed Lines had committed an error. Lines however maintained that he was right.
The World Snooker Tour on the other side claimed that Lines used "swear language and intimidation" during his match. Moreover, Lines threatened to fight outside the arena.