Serdang (19 November, 2016): Kedah Eagles suffered a dent in their hopes of catching up with second place Penang Black Panthers after going down 2-0 to Kuala Lumpur Thunder in their Ekspres Perdana Sepak Takraw League (STL) match at the Serdang Jaya Municipal Council Stadium, today.
The last time both these sides met were in the opening match of the season on September 30, which the Eagles took home the victory after an easy 21-12, 21-9 win.
However, this time around Eagles failed to repeat the same feat when coming up against an improved Thunder, who last lost a match on October 15 when they came up against Terengganu Turtles. Since then, victories over Melaka Titans, ATM Guardians, and Johor Tigris have seen them occupy third place in the league.
Azhar Sarabini, coach of Thunders went again with the usual Aizat Nor Azmi (tekong), Amirul Zazwan Amir (feeder) and Hafiz Rahman (striker), while Eagles lined up with Asrah Adenan (tekong), Zuleffendi Sumari (feeder) and Shahrol Nizam Romli (striker).
Thunder dominated right from the start to claim a 21-16 win in the first set, before increasing the momentum in the second set to win 21-17.
Eagles failed to register a single point in their previous two matches after defeats to Turtles and Guardians, and after today’s defeat, pressure will be on Nasher Ahmad’s team to come out with a solution especially when they play Panthers, tomorrow.
Thunder will keep a close eye on this match as they hope for an upset from the Eagles to continue narrowing the gap with Panthers, before they face off with Kelantan Warriors, next week.
In the second match of the day, Turtles continued their dominance with another convincing victory over Tigris to register their 9th consecutive win as the season moves past the mid-season mark.
Kamal Alfiza Shafie (tekong) continued to fill in for the injured Fadzli Roslan, while Izurin Refin (tekong) started in place of Zulkifli Razak while skipper, Azwan Muhrim (feeder) maintained his position in the team.
Tigris trio Haidzir Rashid (tekong), Lutfil Azmi (feeder) and Norhafizi Razak (striker) could not do much in the first set when they went down 21-16.
However, the Tigris were not to be underestimated when they powered back in the second set to win 21-13. The third set proved to be the decider and Turtles took full opportunity of the tired
Tigris to storm to a 21-15 win forcing the Tigris to suffer their 5th defeat of the season after 8 matches.
Turtles next face bottom of the table Titans next week with hopes that their talisman, Fadzli will return back to action after suffering a back injury in their match against Panthers, last week.
RESULTS:
Saturday (19 November 2016):
Ekspres Perdana Sepak Takraw League (STL):
Kuala Lumpur Thunder bt Kedah Eagles 2-0 (21-16, 21-17)
Terengganu Turtles bt Johor Tigris 2-1 (21-16, 13-21, 21-15)
FIXTURES:
Sepak Takraw League (STL) Division 1:
Sunday (20 November 2016)
10am: Putrajaya v PSM A
11am: Sabah v PSM B
12pm: Sarawak v Selangor
1pm: Labuan v Perlis
Ekspres Perdana Sepak Takraw League (STL):
Sunday (20 November 2016): Johor Tigris v ATM Guardians (4pm), Kedah Eagles v Penang Black Panthers (5.30pm).
* Serdang Jaya Municipal Council Stadium, Selangor
