The Penang Black Panthers maintained a 100% winning start to the 2018 Sepak Takraw League (STL) Premier season with a 2-0 win over the Kelantan Warriors on Friday.

However, the defending champions, who benched star players Syahir Rosdi and Azlan Alias, did not have it easy as they were down 3-9 at one point in the first set.

Even with Azlan coming off the bench to restore some confidence in the Penang side,the Warriors continued to dominate and looked set to close the set at 20-17.

However, the 2018 Asian Games gold medalist rallied his side against the match point and helped them win 23-21.



Seemingly affected by the close first-set loss, Kelantan were unable to match Penang's intensity in the second set and lost 15-21.

Their fourth win in as many games — without giving away a single set — allowed them to restore their two-point gap from the Kuala Lumpur Thunder, who beat the Melaka Titans earlier in the day to maintain their winning start to the season too.



It was a hard-fought victory for the Thunder as they needed three sets to win 24-22, 17-21, 21-11.

The ATM Guardians, the third unbeaten team so far in the 2018 season, also notched a victory boost title credentials by beating the Perak Bison 21-13, 21-14.

They are currently third behind the Black Panthers and the Thunder.



Meanwhile, all was not well for the Selangor Pistons, who lost their third straight game after being beaten 1-2 by the Johor Tigris.

It was initially looking good for the Pistons to bag their first win of the season after taking the first set 21-18, but they committed too many unforced errors to lose the second set 7-21.

They did better in the third set but in the end were outmatched 18-21.