Saturday's 2018 Sepak Takraw League (STL) Premier action saw, among others, the Kuala Lumpur Thunder beat the Selangor Pistons, while the Penang Black Panthers snapped their two-game losing run.

The Thunder grabbed their second straight league win with a clinical 21-12 first-set win before sealing the victory in the second set 21-19.

For the Pistons, besides losing the Klang Valley bragging rights, the demoralising defeat was their fifth in seven matches since the start of the season.



As for the Thunder, albeit playing an extra game, the win allowed them to keep up with league leaders ATM Guardians, who maintained their perfect start to the season by edging past the PDRM Defenders 2-0.

Despite committing more errors and having a lower serving success rate than their opponents, the Guardians took the victory 21-17, 21-14 for their sixth straight 2-0 win.



The Penang Black Panthers, who were already four points behind the Guardians, ensured they wouldn't fall further behind in the title race by defeating the Johor Tigris 2-1.

Said Ezwan Said was thrusted into the game as the starting tekong after Syahir Rosdi's uninspiring performance on Friday, and the 21-year-old did well to help Penang win the first set 21-15.

However, Penang's rustiness still showed as they started the second set poorly 5-9.

Syahir was immediately brought off the bench to help shore up their offence but to no avail as they lost 17-21.

The 2018 Asian Games gold medalist stayed on for the rubber set to contribute seven points for a 21-16 win.



Also ending their winless run were the Terengganu Turtles as they beat the struggling Melaka Titans 2-1.

The Turtles, who had been affected by the unavailability of tekong star Zulkifli Abdul Razak and suspensions of two other players, secured a comeback victory 14-21, 21-12, 21-17 to snap their four-game losing streak.