Phil Taylor wades into Owen Bates saga after he was forced to change awkward nickname for PDC Championship qualifying

PHIL TAYLOR has waded into the Owen Bates nickname saga – and feels Alfred Hitchcock might be able to help.

Rookie Bates, 20, has asked SunSport readers to help him find a snazzy new moniker because his original one – The Master – is not suitable for family audiences.

Owen Bates is in need of a new nickname after his original one was banned

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Phil Taylor has waded in on the nickname debate[/caption]

The five suggestions on the table are 100 n’Batey, Tungsten Tosser, Batey McBateface, Shark and Billy No…

Yet legendary Taylor – winner of sixteen world darts titles – has thought of a possible link with the famous British film director Hitchcock.

One of Hitchcock’s greatest films, Psycho, involved a serial killer called Norman Bates, who stabbed to death a woman in the shower.

Asked for a solution, the Power responded: “How about Psycho from the Bates’ motel?”

Speaking on the Alan Brazil talkSPORT Breakfast show, the 63-year-old added: “I saw the podcast of you and Ally McCoist when it first came out about his nickname, laughing your socks off.

“It was dead funny. It was brilliant.”

Taylor announced this week that he is going to retire from competition darts at the end of 2024 after struggling on the World Seniors Darts Tour.

For the first time since he lost to Rob Cross in the 2018 PDC World final, he plans to return to Ally Pally to do some TV work for Sky Sports.

The Stoke thrower, who needs to undergo a hip op, said: “I’m going this year for the semis and final to do the start of the show in the gallery, giving my views on who is there.

“I watch parts of the darts during the year. I’ll pick certain games that I’ll watch.

“I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know half of the players now because I never played with them. There are names there that I cannot even pronounce.

“I find a lot of sports now have changed. Wimbledon has changed for me, I knew everybody a few years ago, now I probably only know about 25 per cent.”