City Flyers, Southern Tigris stay on course

Kuala Lumpur City Flyers are soaring at new heights after posting a 2-1 win over Malacca Green Titans in the SepakTakraw League Malaysia at the Sports Arena Sentosa on Sunday.

The city lads, who defeated Kedah’s Northern Rangers 3-0 in STL Malaysia opening day encounter on Saturday, leapfrogged Armed Forces to lead the table standings with four points after two matches.

Farid Abdul Aziz (tekong), MuqlisBorhan (feeder) and Hafiz Rahman (striker) gave City Flyers a welcoming start following a 21-17, 17-21 and 21-19 victory over KobilSepair, ZarlizanZakaria and AmirulAsyrafIdris.

The second regu tie which involves national players only from both sides turned into a hotly affair as fans were entertained to some spectacular performances from City Flyers Aizat Nor Azmi, AmirulZazwan Amir and Azlan Alias against Titans Sahidan Ali (tekong), SyazreenqamarSalehan (feeder) and MasranRahman which went into three sets.

Titans won the first set 21-19 but could not sustain the pressure in the second and third sets to go down 10-21, 15-21 to give the city boys an overall 2-0 lead.

However, the Malacca outfit came back strongly to claim the third regu through HasrulAnuarSuboh (tekong), HasifYusof (feeder) and ShelpulSaad (striker) as they posted 21-14, 21-12 winning scores.

“Our plan was to win today at all cost against Green Titans and go on from here. With two wins we are heading in the right direction,” said City Flyers coach AzharSarbini. “But we cannot underestimate our opponents as all the teams are of equal strength.”

He added that Southern Tigris who they play next weekend is a team that is capable of turning the tables around.

“They have good national players in the squad, especially in two regus and I don’t want my players to be overconfident after posting two straight wins. We have to focus on the next match that is very crucial,” added Azhar.

Southern Tigris (Johor) opened their campaigned in the six-week long STL Malaysia with a 2-1 victory over Terengganu, also known as East Coast Surfers.

The first regu trio of Southern Tigris - Haidzir Rashid (tekong), TaibKassim (feeder) and Norhaffizi Abdul Razak (striker) won 21-19, 21-15 against IzurinRefin (tekong), MuzhaffarZamir (feeder) and FadzliRoslan (striker).

However, Tigris’ second regu of HairulHazizi, AzmiKadir and ZamreeMohdDahan ran into trouble waters against East Coast Surfers’ IzuanAfendi (tekong), Safaruddin Abu Bakar and JaxonAmputong before winning 21-14, 17-21, 21-11 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.

East Coast Surfers, however, threw in a strong challenge in the third regu to pull away a narrow 25-24 win in the first set and 21-18 in the second to end the day on a satisfying note.