Guardians move clear in STL title race

The ATM Guardians took full advantage of their game in hand and beat the Perak Bison 2-0 to move clear at the top of the 2018 Sepak Takraw League (STL) Premier table on Sunday.

Despite starting both sets poorly 3-4, 0-4, the league leaders finished strongly 21-16, 21-14 to seal their 10th win of the league season.

The win put them two points ahead of defending champions Penang Black Panthers and the Kuala Lumpur Thunder, who ensured it wouldn't be a four-point gap for them by beating the Melaka Titans on Sunday.

The Thunder won 21-19, 17-21, 21-10 to hand the Titans their ninth consecutive league defeat.

Melaka's fellow strugglers, the Selangor Pistons, also had an outing to forget as they lost 14-21, 10-21 to the Johor Tigris.

Eight points behind the top four with only 12 points left up for grabs, the defeat meant Selangor's hopes of qualifying for the year-end's Champions Cup were all but over.

As for their vanquisher, the Tigris, they remained in contention for the Champions Cup competition with 14 points, level on points with the Kelantan Warriors in the fourth and final qualifying spot.

The East Coast team, who would take on the Black Panthers and the Thunder the following week, retained their fourth spot by defeating the PDRM Defenders 21-13, 21-17.