Lam Beats Lines To Win Biggest Ever English Amateur Tour Event

Sanderson Lam continued his impressive start to the season by defeating Peter Lines 4-3 to win the biggest English Amateur Tour event in the history of the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards (EPSB).

• Results

Lam, who returned to the amateur ranks at the start of this season following a four-year spell on the World Snooker Tour (WST), followed up on the previous weekend’s WPBSA Q Tour Europe event victory to lift another title at the Landywood Snooker Club.

A total of 99 cueists entered the two-day event in Walsall, a new record for an EPSB English Amateur Tour since it began in 2019, and Lam began confidently with defeats of Joe Fenton (4-2) and Harry Wyatt (4-0).

Richard Binns scored breaks of 101 and 53 to move 3-0 ahead of Lam in a race to four at the last 32 stage. However, Lam hit back with a break of 83 before taking the fifth and seventh frames on the black to secure his place in the final day with an outstanding comeback.

Sunday began with a whitewash win against reigning English Under-16 champion Shaun Liu followed by consecutive 4-2 victories over Ryan Davies and William Lemons to set up an all-Leeds final against fellow former professional Peter Lines.

Lines had been in superb scoring form across the weekend – compiling the tournament high break of 138 in his last 16 meeting with Simon Blackwell and adding a 135 in the final to win the third frame against Lam. These were the best of a total of 19 century breaks in the event which will see the EPSB add £95 to the JustGiving fundraiser in support of The Brain Tumour Charity during the 2026/27 season.

Lam had led the title match 2-0 before Lines had reduced the deficit with the aforementioned century break and from here the 56-year-old charged into a 3-2 lead with a contribution of 69 in frame five.

The recently-crowned Q Tour Europe champion was able to force a decider but, when Lines got in first with a break of 60 in the seventh, it looked to be his day. Lam’s undeniable battling qualities came to the fore once more, however, as he held his nerve to fire in a 73 and take the title on the final black.

The English Amateur Tour continues on 3-4 October at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds. Enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.