FOLLOWING his World Championship quarter-final defeat to Phil 'The Power' Taylor, March's Kevin Painter has responded in the best possible way to win the Budweiser UK Open North East Regional Final. The tournament in Newcastle attracted many of the game's

FOLLOWING his World Championship quarter-final defeat to Phil 'The Power' Taylor, March's Kevin Painter has responded in the best possible way to win the Budweiser UK Open North East Regional Final.The tournament in Newcastle attracted many of the game's best players and Painter, pictured, recorded victories over the in-form Adrian Lewis and Denis Ovens before beating world number one Colin Lloyd in the final.The 2-0 victory over Lloyd earned Painter £4000 and strengthened his position in the rankings but it is the tournament win that most pleased Painter. He said: "I am delighted. Phil Taylor was not playing but it was a very strong field and it is pleasing that I was able to play so well over two days. Adrian is playing really well at the moment and Denis was brilliant in the quarters."In the final, 'The Artist' came from 2-1 down to win the opening set and made Lloyd pay for missed doubles to take the decisive second set.Painter will now look forward to the Stan James Players Championship to be played in Gibraltar on January 21.He said: "I am very confident at the moment and it would be nice to play this weekend. There are so many good players and there are a lot more tournaments this year so it will be a real challenge."Painter added: "Last year was a bad one for me and I never really recovered from injury but I have got back in to my stride and now I feel like I am getting back to my best.