Former PDC World Championship runner-up Kevin Painter returned to the stage yesterday for the first time since announcing earlier this year that he’d contracted dartitis. Unfortunately, his struggles were still evident in York for the World Seniors Matchplay…
Kevin Painter, also known as ‘The Artist’ is a former professional darts player best known for finishing runner-up at the 2004 PDC World Darts Championship losing 7-6 to Phil Taylor in the final.
He is also a two-time major title winner having won the BDO British Matchplay and the PDC Players Championship Finals during his 30+ year career.
Since retiring from the Pro Tour in 2022, Painter has still been active in darts playing in the World Seniors Darts Tour as well as MODUS Super Series.
Unfortunately, there have been a few instances over the past year where Painter has struggled with his throw and he’d recently announced he’s been suffering from dartitis and has even been undergoing hypnotherapy in an effort to cure it.
Prior to the World Seniors Matchplay, Painter announced that he was cured as a result of the hypnotherapy and would therefore compete at the Matchplay this weekend.
During his first round tie with Canadian David Cameron, fans would witness that Painter’s dartitis is far from cured…
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Kevin Painter Struggles with Dartitis at World Seniors Matchplay
Going into the World Senior Matchplay, people were well aware of the issues Kevin Painter had been struggling with as a result of dartitis.
Whether it was the occasion, being a televised event or some other reason, darts fans would witness an incredibly uncomfortable match as Painter visibly struggled with dartitis throughout.
He’d have to take multiple steps back to compose himself before throwing. Once the first dart was thrown he was flowing but getting the first one to go looked like a real battle for him up on the stage.
Even with his struggles though, Painter showed two moments of brilliance.
The first being a stunning 156 checkout when 6-1 behind followed immediately by a 104 checkout.
SIMPLY A MASTERPIECE 😍
— World Seniors Darts (@SeniorsDarts) October 4, 2024
Painter fires in the 1️⃣5️⃣6️⃣!! pic.twitter.com/W4k9yh8vzS
When they go.. THEY GO 🚀
— World Seniors Darts (@SeniorsDarts) October 4, 2024
Kevin Painter is showing an incredible amount of courage up on the Barbican stage right now ❤️ pic.twitter.com/KnFjRvtecO
Painter would eventually lose the game 8-3 to Canadian David Cameron in the first round.
Fans on social media, while showing support for Painter were also quick to point out how distracting or unfair this would be for someone to play against.
In an interview on Online Darts, Cameron reveals how difficult it was to play in that situation. He said:
“It’s hard at times for sure but you’ve just got to take some deep breaths and let him try to get through what he’s going through.
“It’s nice to have a rhythm when you’re throwing and when you don’t get the rhythm sometimes your game can be off.
“I mean, it was a little tough but I got through it.”
In Painter’s defence, he said in an interview today that he was ‘fine in the practice room’ and while there was a chance that it could flare up he didn’t expect it to be as bad as it was.
Maybe fans were too quick to judge and assumed he’d entered KNOWING it was this bad…
You can’t watch his full interview on World Seniors Darts Tour TV below:
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