Kevin Painter

Darts player infobox


playername = Kevin Painter
fullname =
nickname = The Artist
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|7|12
cityofbirth = Billericay, Essex
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
hometown = Daventry, Northamptonshire
homecountry = England
since = 1982
darts = 19g Unicorn Kevin Painter
music = I Predict a Riot, by the Kaiser Chiefs
BDO = 1994 to 2001
PDC = since 2001
currentrank = 16
BDO World = Quarter-Finals 2000, 2001
World Masters = Quarter-Finals 2001
World Darts Trophy =
Int. Darts League =
PDC World = Runner-up 2004
Matchplay = Last 16, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007
Grand Prix = Quarter-Finals 2001, 2003, 2004
UK Open = Quarter-Finals 2004
Vegas = Semi-finals 2004
Premier League =
Grand Slam = Quarter-Finals 2007
US Open = Last 16 2007
Championship League = Initial groups, Runner-up, 2008
tournament = England Open
British Open
British Matchplay
Swedish Open
Bob Anderson Classic
South West UK Open
Sheppy Darts Classic
North East UK Open
John Smith's 128 Classic
resultyears = 1995
1996
1997
2000
2002
2004
2004
2006
2007
achievement = 25 England International Appearances

Kevin Painter (born July 12, 1967) is an English darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, where he is also known as "The Artist". He is most famous for finishing runner up to Phil Taylor in the monumental 2004 World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the greatest televised matches in the history of darts, and the greatest final in televised darts. [cite web |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/darts/pdc2008/profiles/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/07/12/11/manual_083239.html |title=Kevin Painter profile|accessdate=2008-09-19 |work=Sporting Life |quote=Painter was involved in what will long be regarded as one of the all-time Circus Tavern classics back in 2004 when he lost a thrilling final 7-6 to his long-time rival Phil Taylor.] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/jan/05/darts.pdcworldchampionship The Guardian article - The Power pays off in sudden death] by Gavin Worley, obtained 03-08-2008] [cite web |url=http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/qtotdetail/0,,10180~727715,00.html |title=Phil Taylor profile|accessdate=2008-09-26 |work=Professional Darts Corporation|quote=...coming from 4-1 down to win in a sudden-death leg against Kevin Painter in arguably the sport's best-ever game.] Commentator Sid Waddell has also referred to it as the most dramatic darts match he has ever seen. [cite news |author=Harris, Nick |title=An email conversation with Sid Waddell |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/an-email-conversation-with-sid-waddell-phil-said-he-couldnt-take-the-pressure--but-still-won-his-title-back-765512.html |work=The Independent |publisher=Independent News & Media |location=Canary Wharf, London |date=17 December 2007 |accessdate=2008-08-27 |quote=The most dramatic was Phil coming back from 4-1 down against Kevin Painter in the 2004 final. ]

Darts career

A former builder, [ [http://www.unicorn-darts.com/News/BigInterview-KevinPainter.asp Interview with Kevin Painter] , from Unicorn Darts, obtained 04-04-2008] Kevin Painter started playing darts around the age of 17. Once an Essex county player, he won the 1996 British Open on the BDO circuit and made eight appearances at the Embassy World Darts Championships between 1994 and 2001. He joined the PDC soon after but failed to make a serious impact until the 2001 World Grand Prix where he made headlines with a shock defeat of Phil Taylor in the first round. Taylor had never before been defeated in this event and had not lost on television for two years prior to this loss. This was also the first time that Taylor had been defeated in the first round of a televised PDC event. Painter proceeded to the quarter-finals in that event. A semi-final appearance in the 2003 World Championship followed, where he lost to eventual champion, Canadian John Part. This was the furthest he had progressed in any of his world championship appearances, BDO or PDC, until that point.

Kevin Painter's finest hour came in the 2004 World Championship. As the 10th seed, he defeated 7th seed Ronnie Baxter in the fourth round, and a whitewash of former world champion Bob Anderson followed later on in the semi-finals. Painter then met top seed Phil Taylor in the final. What followed was the longest televised darts match ever and for a time the most watched PDC darts match (820,000 viewers) [ [http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?report=weeklytop30&requesttimeout=500&
] from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, obtained 04-04-2008] until the 2007 final. Despite Painter leading 4-1 at one point, the match went to 6-6 in sets and 5-5 in legs in the final set, so a sudden death leg was needed to decide a winner. Phil Taylor won it and became the champion, but Painter gained fame for his participation in such an epic final.

The following year was a strong one for Kevin Painter where he reached the quarter-finals in the UK Open and the semi-finals in the Las Vegas Desert Classic, his best performance in these tournaments to date. He reached the quarter finals of the 2005 Las Vegas Desert Classic and the 2005 World Championship despite falling victim to a leg injury which damaged his form and kept him out of many tournaments.

Painter's form dropped substantially in 2006. Despite a victory in the North West UK Open final [ [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/UKOpenDetail/0,,10180~765234,00.html PDC website report - Painter Takes North-East Glory] from the Professional Darts Corporation, obtained 03-08-2008] and a second appearance in the quarter finals of the World Championship his ranking had dropped to 18 by the beginning of 2007. This was not helped by a defeat in the first round of that year's World Championship, to training partner Colin Osborne.

The latter half of 2007 however saw a strong return to form for Painter, where he reached the quarter-finals of the first Grand Slam of Darts despite being entered as a wild card, and attained the second highest average in the first round of any player in the 2008 World Championship, where he was also responsible for knocking out defending champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last 16. Painter was knocked out in the semi finals by, again, the eventual champion John Part, his best performance since when he was the runner-up in 2004. Painter considers the win over van Barneveld as the greatest of his career. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/dec/29/darts.pdcworldchampionship The Guardian article - Painter rubs out van Barneveld] by Michael Phillips, obtained 03-08-2008]

In 2008, Kevin was featured as one of the 16 professionals in the darts videogame "PDC World Championship Darts 2008". His results in the televised majors this year have not been as might have been expected from the World Championship - he was once again defeated by Osborne in the third round of the 2008 UK Open and lost in the first round of the 2008 Las Vegas Desert Classic despite a spirited performance against the eventual champion Phil Taylor. Painter averaged 104 (the third highest average of the tournament) and didn't miss a double in the match, but was still defeated 6-4. He also lost in the first round of the 2008 World Matchplay to Tony Eccles. However his performance in non-televised events has been considerably better including an appearance in the Bristol Players Championship final - just losing 3-2 to Dennis Priestley - this was his first final since September 2006.

World Championship results

While the quarter-finals was the furthest stage that Painter reached in the BDO World Darts Championship, his record in the PDC World Darts Championship is far more impressive, having reached the quarter-finals twice (2005, 2006), the semi-finals twice (2003, 2008), and he was the runner-up in 2004. Since 2003 he has only failed to reach the quarter-finals on one occasion (2007), a record in recent times only bettered by Phil Taylor. This record is reflected in him being the player with the sixth highest amount of money won in the PDC World Championship, behind the four champions and three-time runner up Peter Manley. [ [http://www.teessidesoftware.no-ip.com/DartsDatabase/TournamentPlayerStats.aspx?tournKey=11 PDC World Championship player stats] , from the Darts Database, obtained 26-07-2008] Remarkably, in each year except 2002 and 2007, he has been defeated by the eventual PDC champion.

BDO

*1994 - First Round (lost to Kevin Kenny 2-3)
*1995 - Second Round (lost to Martin Adams 0-4)
*1996 - First Round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 2-3)
*1997 - "Did not qualify"
*1998 - Second Round (lost to Richie Burnett 1-3)
*1999 - Second Round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 0-3)
*2000 - Quarter-finals (lost to Ted Hankey 2-5)
*2001 - Quarter-finals (lost to Andy Fordham 2-5)

PDC

*2002 - First Round (lost to Ronnie Baxter 2-4)
*2003 - Semi-finals (lost to John Part 4-6)
*2004 - Runner-up (lost to Phil Taylor 6-7)
*2005 - Quarter-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 1-5)
*2006 - Quarter-finals (lost to Phil Taylor 1-5)
*2007 - First Round (lost to Colin Osborne 1-3)
*2008 - Semi-finals (lost to John Part 2-6)

Personal life

Kevin lives in Daventry, Northamptonshire with Janine Gough, originally from Swansea, who also used to play darts, and they have a daughter, Madison Elise. He is also a season ticket and share holder of Ipswich Town F.C.. He often plays wearing a blue shirt in reference to his favourite team.

Controversy

Kevin is probably also famous for a notorious rivalry with Phil Taylor. Perhaps stemming from his shock victory over Taylor in the 2001 World Grand Prix, and the epic 2004 World Championship final, he has had many run-ins with 'The Power' including a memorable match, the quarter finals of the 2005 World Championship, where he often tried to check out by hitting the Bullseye, but failed many times. Taylor won the last leg of the match by deliberately leaving 50, then checking out on the bull, which Painter took as a taunt and argued viciously with Taylor for a few minutes after the match. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnVNI4kBP4 Phil Taylor vs Kevin Painter - 2005 World Championship] , from Youtube, obtained 04-04-2008] Since then the two have had numerous matches and the incident appears to have been put behind them.

In April 2008, Painter was involved in another incident at the Holland Masters, a non-televised tournament. In a quarter-final match with Taylor's protegé, Adrian Lewis, an argument between the two took place in the deciding set. The two were disqualified from the tournament. [ [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1298656,00.html PDC website report - Holland Masters] , from the Professional Darts Corporation, obtained 26-04-2008] In July, the Darts Regulation Authority decided upon an appropriate punishment for the two; Painter was fined £200 and banned for three months with two months suspended while Lewis was fined £400 with a six month ban, four months suspended. [ [http://www.planetdarts.tv/page/LatestDetail/0,,10180~1344699,00.html PDC website report - Duo Receive Bans] from the Professional Darts Corporation, obtained 16-07-2008] [ [http://www.thedra.compsyswebdesign.com/charges.htm DRA Disciplinary Committee Hearing, Tuesday 15th July 2008 report] from the Darts Regulation Authority, obtained 16-07-2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.kevinpainter.com/ Kevin Painter's Official Site]
* [http://www.teessidesoftware.no-ip.com/DartsDatabase/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=18 Painter on the Darts Database]