World Ranking: 2
Order of Merit: 1
| 2022/23 SMPT season record | W | D | L |
| Singles | 44 | 0 | 8 |
| Pairs | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Fours | 3 | 1 | 2 |
2022/23 SMPT season record: Singles W7 L9 Pairs W7 L3 Fours W3 D1 L2
An impressive season for the 27 year old Englishman which culminated in four SMPT medals.
The first of these came at the World Cup back in August when he secured a Silver medal representing England. Peter was the sole victor in his sides’ 5-1 defeat to Ireland.
Peter had a comfortable passage through group 10 at the UK Open, before noteworthy victories over Mark Chittock, Simon Pridham & Gary McNabb saw Peter just lose out to Pauline Beattie in a tense Semi-Final, 11-10. Still, a very well deserved bronze medal was achieved.
Two slender defeats to William Boggs & Mark Hamilton, curtailed Peter’s chances of progressing to the cup knockout from group 19 at the Irish Open. However, some good, consistent bowling, as you come to expect, enabled Peter to reach the Plate Final. This included wins over the experienced Howell brothers from Wales on his way to a meeting against top Irish bowler, Robbie Foster. Peter was triumphant and took the Plate title 8-6.
It was a different story in Norway, as Peter’s continued, great drawing game, came to the fore as he breezed through group 17 with five wins. This form continued into the knockout rounds where he easily dispatched Kai-Aslak Holte & Don McNamara before yet again defeating Gary McNabb in the Quarter Finals and World No6 Ed Sawbridge in the Semi-Finals. This set up an intriguing Final against Swedish stalwart, Tommy Dahlgren. Peter stormed into an early lead, and despite Tommy’s obvious tiredness, he pegged Peter back to make it a tense finish. Peter however, got over the line by 13-11 and gained his first SMPT ranking title.
Away from singles, and Peter took part in the annual World Pairs & Fours Masters in Chelmsford. Saturday’s fours were a Roberts family affair, as mother Angela, father Steven & girlfriend Angharad joined him. In group 2, a win, draw and two losses were only good enough to make the Plate knockout. Here, they went on to win two matches before eventually losing in the semi-final. In the Pairs event, Peter teamed up with his father, Steven. Three wins from three in group 23 saw them progress to the cup knockout where they were eventually beaten by silver medallists, Paul Pomeroy & James Smith in the Last 16.
A return to singles action in January at the British Open saw Peter lose his first group game to eventual bronze medallist Matty Worden. This however a small blip, as he went on to win the next four matches and again, qualify for the cup knockout. Another victory over Cennydd Howell in the Last 64 was then followed by defeat against the ever dependable Ian Hobson in the Last 32. Peter’s efforts from his win in Norway and from this tournament meant he had cemented his place in the World’s top 3.
Heading back to Chelmsford for our next event, the English Masters, Peter’s consistent form held him in good stead. Another five victories in group 29, including a decent 13-6 win over World No14, Andrew Jones, secured cup qualification once again. Wins against Nigel Charles & Kevin Lawley lined up another showdown with Pauline Beattie in the Last 16. Once again, however, Pauline edged this one too, winning 9-7.
Back in Belfast, and time for another pairs event. Partnering dad, Steven, once again, it was an event of mixed fortunes as one win and one loss would still see them progress from the group into the Cup, where they again achieved one win and a loss, this time to Nigel Graham & Alastair McCrea.
Heading into the more serious stuff on Saturday, and the World Masters, Peter was sitting 2nd in the Order of Merit, just half a point behind Pauline Beattie. He was also looking to maintain his push in the World rankings, and that elusive top spot.
With the late withdrawal of Pauline due to ill health, this gave Peter a great chance to clinch the OoM title. He would have to negotiate a tough group 18 that contained World Number 1, Mark Beattie, and top English bowler Steve Proctor. As it was, a great 10-4 victory over Mark and a one shot defeat to Steve, was still enough to see him progress to the Cup knockout.
A Last 64 win over Adrian McCaw was then followed by a surprise 11-6 defeat to Cyprus’ Simon Pridham in their second meeting of the season. This meant he would lose the OoM title if Gary McNabb won the event. With Gary’s Quarter Final defeat to Alex Kley completed, this confirmed Peter as the Order of Merit Champion for the season as well as securing No2 in the World rankings and the captain’s armband for the England team at the World Cup.
The Short Mat Players Tour’s (SMPT) selection of short-listed players is final. Voting is open to all players who have a SMPT Player Profile on our website.
Players who have previously played in a SMPT event but do not have a Player Profile can register for one by emailing profiles@shortmatplayerstour.com – any player wanting a profile should send their email from the email address that is to be used for their profile, confirming the name of the last SMPT event they entered. Once a Player Profile has been set up, the player is eligible to vote.
Players may vote only once, through one registered profile under their name. Simply login to your Player Profile and register your top three choices in order of preference.
All votes must be received by the SMPT in the required format before 8pm on Sunday 2nd July 2023. The winner will be announced on our website on Tuesday 4th July 2023
