The Penang Black Panthers were in a no-nonsense mood on Sunday as they dethroned the ATM Guardians at the top of the 2018 Sepak Takraw League (STL) Premier standings.

The defending champions, who were beaten 0-2 by the same team earlier in the season, returned the favour with a dominating 21-10, 21-11 straight-set victory.

Syahir Rosdi showed why he was the reigning Most Valuable Player and Best Tekong by scoring 15 points over two sets, three more than team-mate and striker Azlan Alias.

The Black Panthers are now level on points with the Guardians but with a superior game point difference, and two points ahead of the Kuala Lumpur Thunder, who were not in action on Sunday and have a game in hand.



The Kelantan Warriors, six points behind the Black Panthers, kept pace with the top three by beating fellow mid-table side Perak Bison 2-1.

They won 21-19, 15-21, 21-14.



On the other side of the league table, the Selangor Pistons faced more woes as they lost yet again, this time against the rejuvenated Terengganu Turtles.

With Terengganu striker Hanafiah Dollah almost unstoppable, bagging 20 points over two sets, they were beaten 18-21, 13-21 to remain second from the bottom and winless in their past four games.



Just like the Pistons, the Melaka Titans' poor run of results continued with a 2-0 defeat to the PDRM Defenders.

The league's bottom dwellers, whose only victory this season so far coincidentally came against the Police outfit, struggled to put up a fight in the first set, losing 9-21, before crashing to a 16-21 second-set loss.