33 Facts About Kevin Painter

Kevin Painter was born on 12 July 1967 and is an English retired darts player, known as "The Artist".

Kevin Painter is arguably most famous for finishing as the runner-up to Phil Taylor in the 2004 PDC World Championship final, now widely credited as one of the greatest televised matches in the history of the sport.

Kevin Painter was the winner of the Players Championship Finals in 2011.

Kevin Painter however did not become a member of the Professional Dart Players Association, the organisation that allows players to play in all PDC events, and therefore remained a BDO player.

Kevin Painter entered another PDC event, the 2001 World Matchplay, but lost in the first round before returning again in the 2001 World Grand Prix, where in a major shock he defeated Taylor in the first round.

Kevin Painter made his debut in the PDC World Championship in the 2002 event but lost in the first round to Ronnie Baxter.

Kevin Painter then beat Mark Dudbridge before a whitewash of former world champion Bob Anderson followed later on in the semi-finals.

Kevin Painter 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.

Kevin Painter suffered first or early round defeats in most of the major tournaments and his ranking had dropped to 18 by the beginning of 2007.

Kevin Painter suffered another first round loss in the 2007 World Grand Prix, but this would prove to be the turning point.

Kevin Painter attributed the "perception that he was finished" to a renewed determination and subsequent rise in form.

Kevin Painter was knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual champion Part, his best performance since when he was the runner-up in 2004.

Kevin Painter considers the win over van Barneveld as the greatest of his career.

Kevin Painter lost in a deciding leg to Colin Lloyd in the second round of the World Grand Prix and finished bottom of his group in the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts.

Kevin Painter entered the 2009 PDC World Championship as the number 17 seed.

Kevin Painter defeated Matt Clark in the first round, winning in a sudden-death leg to become the first seeded player to progress to the second round, where he beat Carlos Rodriguez.

In June 2009, Kevin Painter reached the semi-finals of the UK Open, his best ever performance in the tournament.

At the 2011 World Matchplay, Kevin Painter revealed that he had received laser eye surgery before the tournament to improve his game, he stated that he had hit a nine dart finish after 10 minutes of practise with his improved vision.

At the Players Championship Finals in December 2011, Kevin Painter beat Colin Osborne, Gary Anderson, Mervyn King, and Scott Rand to reach his first major final since the World Championship in 2004.

At the 2012 PDC World Championship, Kevin Painter defeated Arron Monk and Mark Walsh before losing to John Part by four sets to two.

Kevin Painter had wins over Simon Whitlock, Andy Hamilton, and Adrian Lewis, but finished 7th in the 8 man league.

Kevin Painter won two of his three Group C games at the Grand Slam of Darts to finish second in the table and qualify for the knockout stage, where he faced Mervyn King.

Kevin Painter finished 30th on the ProTour Order of Merit, just inside the top 32 who qualified for the Players Championship Finals.

Kevin Painter was knocked out in the second round of the European Championship, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix.

Kevin Painter missed out on playing in the World Matchplay this year since he switched to the PDC in 2001.

Kevin Painter failed to qualify for the rest of the majors on the PDC calendar in 2015, but remained in the top 32 on the Order of Merit to play in the 2016 World Championship.

Kevin Painter dropped out of the top 32 in the world rankings during the year and qualified for two other major events, the UK Open and the Players Championship Finals.

Kevin Painter spends his training sessions with Matthew Edgar, a PDC darts player.

Kevin Painter is a season ticket and share holder of Ipswich Town.

Kevin Painter often plays wearing a blue shirt in reference to his favourite team.

Kevin Painter has been featured in numerous darts videogames, including PDC World Championship Darts 2008,2009 and PDC World Championship Darts Pro Tour.

Kevin Painter is probably famous for a notorious rivalry with Taylor, perhaps stemming from his shock victory over Taylor in the 2001 World Grand Prix, and loss in the 2004 World Championship final.

Taylor won the last leg of the match by deliberately leaving 50, then checking out on the bull, which Kevin Painter took as a taunt and argued viciously with Taylor for a few minutes after the match.