BACK IN THE DAY WITH: Kevin Painter - The Artist who narrowly missed out on the world title

In this column, we regularly go back in time with a particular darter. Today we do so with Kevin Painter.

Kevin Painter was born on July 12, 1967, in Billericay. He started playing darts at 17 and ten years later he managed to qualify for the BDO World Championship for the first time. That was quite a remarkable World Championship, by the way, because after 16 top players left the BDO to form the PDC, the field of competitors at Lakeside Country Club had obviously been seriously weakened. Painter could not take advantage of that, however, and went down 3-2 in the first round against Kevin Kenny.

First World Championship participation

A year later he was back at the BDO World Championship. This time he made it past the first round after a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Swede Magnus Caris, who was a semifinalist the year before. In the second round, however, he went down 3-0 to his compatriot Martin Adams. Painter did record his first major tournament victory on the BDO circuit later that year by winning the England Open. This led him to the 1996 BDO World Championship with ambition, but things went wrong in the first round after a 3-2 defeat to Ronnie Baxter.

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In 1997, Painter won the British Open, but failed to qualify for the World Cup. In 1998 and 1999 he was there again, but did not advance beyond the second round after defeats against Richie Burnett and Baxter respectively. At the 2000 BDO World Championship he did make it past the second round for the first time after victories against Paul Williams and Robbie Widdows respectively, but in the quarter-finals he met the later world champion Ted Hankey.

Kevin 'The Artist' Painter in action

Painter, nicknamed "The Artist," won a third major international title in 2000 with the Swedish Open. At the 2001 BDO World Championship, the quarter-finals were again his finish after a 5-2 defeat to Andy Fordham and he also stranded in the quarter-finals at the Winmau World Masters.

Transfer to PDC

Afterwards, Painter decided to switch to the PDC. On his debut at the 2002 World Darts Championship, he immediately failed in the opening round after defeating Baxter. In his first full year with the PDC he actually managed to make little impression, so it was somewhat of a surprise that he managed to reach the semifinals at the 2003 World Championship, where he lost 6-4 to the later world champion John Part.

Memorable World Championship final

In 2004, Painter started the World Cup as the tenth series leader. After wins against Williams, Baxter and Mark Dudbridge, he was again in the semifinals. This time Bob Anderson was his opponent and Painter was unbeatable, winning 6-0. In the final he then faced Phil Taylor, itching for another world title after Part interrupted his record run the year before. Painter and Taylor dished up a memorable final to the spectators at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet. Painter took a 4-1 lead in sets, but eventually made it 6-6 in sets and 5-5 in legs when the 11th and deciding leg had to decide the world title. In the end, it was Taylor who controlled his nerves best and won. Painter had to walk away disillusioned.

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As recently as 2004, Painter reached the quarterfinals of the World Grand Prix and the semifinals of the Las Vegas Desert Classic. Afterwards he experienced a serious dip in form, although he did reach the quarter-finals at the 2006 World Championship. In 2007, however, he went out in the first round against his former training partner Colin Osborne;

Painter, meanwhile, had dropped down the world rankings, but managed to recover at the 2008 World Championship. In the last sixteen, he defeated Raymond van Barneveld and eventually stranded only in the semifinals against the later world champion Part. He still calls that win against Van Barneveld the biggest victory of his career. At the other majors that year, however, he failed to impress and went down quickly each time. At the end of that year he did reach the final of a Players Championship, which he lost 3-2 to Dennis Priestley.

In 2009, after wins against Priestley and Alan Tabern, among others, he reached the semifinals of the UK Open, where he was again outclassed by Osborne. At the World Grand Prix and the Grand Slam of Darts he reached the quarter-finals each time. The World Matchplay and Painter had never really been a success until the 2010 edition. He reached the semifinals there but lost to his eternal enemy Taylor.

A major title at last

Painter was quietly regarded as one of the best players to never win a major. But that came to an end in 2011 when he managed to win the Players Championship Finals after a 13-9 win in the final against Mark Webster. This put him back in the top ten of the world rankings for the first time since 2006. That victory also allowed him to participate in the Premier League Darts a year later where he eventually finished seventh. At the Players Championship Finals he had to defend his title from the previous year. In the first round, however, things immediately went wrong after a 6-3 defeat against Michael van Gerwen, who had made a complete breakthrough that year with no fewer than eight ranking titles.

Kevin Painter with his trophy from the Players Championship Finals

In 2013 he had little success at the majors, but did manage to reach the final at the twelfth Players Championship, in which he lost 6-0 to Kim Huybrechts. At the World Cup in the following years, he never again experienced the successes he had known before and in 2018 he was there for the last time at Alexandra Palace. However, it turned out to be a big disappointment, because already in the first round he lost to Mensur Suljovic.

Loss of Tour Card

Painter lost his Tour Card in 2019 and did try to regain it several times at Q-School, but was unsuccessful. In 2021, he announced his retirement from the PDC. Since then, he does still appear regularly on tournaments of the World Seniors Darts Tour, where he reached the semifinals of the World Championship in both 2022 and 2023.