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Our Sports Correspondent
Ludhiana, January 20
Haryana Hammers prevailed over MP Yodha (4-3) in the ongoing Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season-4 being held here at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium, Pakhowal Road. Thanks to the silver medallist (U-23) in the World Championship-2018, Ravi Kumar, who defeated his experienced opponent, Sandeep Tomar.
In the men’s 57-kg weight category, Ravi faced a little challenge before wrapping up an important bout against Sandeep Tomar (10-1) to give his team their second win in the current season.
Junior World Champion, Anastasia Nichita of Haryana Hammers squeezed past Pooja Dhanda in a high-class action-packed encounter, where the needle swung constantly from one side to the other. Pooja, known for her memorable comebacks, was trailing (0-3) after the first round, but the champion did not let the Indian dictate terms and hung on to win the bout (8-7) and push the tie to the decider.
Earlier, the 2018 World Championships bronze medallist, Ali Shabanov of Haryana Hammers played an aggressive first round in his 86-kg bout against the 2017 Commonwealth Championship’s gold medallist Deepak of MP Yodha and pocketed eight points in a combination of take down and near fall.
Shabanov didn’t give Deepak any chance of a comeback in the second round and put the Haryana Hammers (1-0) ahead.
MP Yodha’s Colombian wrestler Andrea Olaya clinched the keenly fought women’s 76-kg bout against the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kiran after some drama.
Kiran was leading (3-1) with just 30 seconds to go on the clock, but the Colombian not only broke Kiran’s resistance, but also earned three more points with a near fall to win (6-3) and tie the match score at (1-1).
The 65-kg men’s bout between MP Yodha’s European Championships gold medallist from Azerbaijan, Haji Aliyev and national champion Rajneesh was much more closely fought than the final score line suggests.
At 2-1, it almost looked like Rajneesh was on his way to cause a major upset, but Aliyev’s experience helped him win the bout (5-2) with an escape and put Yodha’s ahead in the tie.
The best bout of the evening turned out to be between MP Yodha’s 2018 European Championships silver medallist Elise Monolova and 2018 European Championships bronze medallist Haryana Hammers’ Tatyana Omelchenko in the women’s 62-kg category. Both Azerbaijan wrestlers showed tremendous skills and excellent manoeuvres before Tatyana clinched the bout (6-5) and helped Haryana Hammers restore parity at 2-2.
In a dramatic comeback, Vasil Mikhailov put MP Yodha ahead snatching victory from the jaws of a defeat against Praveen Rana of Haryana Hammers in the men’s 74kg category. In a high-powered bout Mikhailov was trailing 5-6 with less than 10 seconds on the clock, but he turned it around with a near fall and won it 7-6.
Monday’s Preview: Mumbai Maharathi takes on UP Dangal
Ludhiana: Mumbai Maharathi takes on UP Dangal in their third tie of Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season 4 at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium in Ludhiana on Monday. It has been a mixed bag of results for the Mumbai team with one win and one loss, whereas for UP, it has been no different from the last season, when they started with repeated defeats. The main attraction of this tie is undoubtedly the bout between the two iconic players — Mumbai’s Vinesh Phogat and UP’s Vanesa Kaladzinskaya in the 53-kg weight category. Vanesa is the 2017 world champion and Vinesh has gone on to win the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold both in the span of a year. Mumbai defeated defending champions NCR Punjab Royals in their first match, but lost to MP Yodha in their second outing, whereas UP, on the other hand, lost both their first two encounters against Haryana Hammers and Delhi Sultans. Vinesh defeated Royals’ Anju and the Yodha’s Ritu Phogat quite easily, whereas for Vanesa, it has been a tough outing so far this season. In the first match, she managed to score a hard-fought win over Sarita and then went down to Pinki in one of the biggest upset this season. Apart from this, all eyes will also be on women’s 57 and 76-kg category and men’s 125-kg category. In the women’s 76-kg category, UP Dangal’s Epp Mae will take on Zsanett Nemeth of Mumbai, who made it to the world championships medal round. Epp had won the gold medal at the Ivan Yariguin tournament. In women’s 57-kg category, Sarita, who had defeated world championships participant Katherina Zhydachivska in the earlier round, will now take on Betzabeth Angelica in what promises to be an exciting encounter. In the 125kg category Asian Championships medal winner UP Dangal’s Giorgi Sakandelidze will clash with the European championships medalist Mumbai Maharath’s Baitseev Vladisiav. Mumbai coach Anup said: “To make it to the semis, it is important that we win this tie against UP and I am sure, Vinesh will lead the way by defeating Vanesa.” UP co-owner Sunny Katiyal is not too pleased with his team’s performance so far in the tournament, but said: “If my team plays to their full potential, they can beat any team in PWL 4.”
The SQUAD
UP Dangal: Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (53 Kg), Naveen (57 Kg), Sarita (57 Kg), Navjot Kaur (64 Kg), Pankaj Rana (65 Kg), Jitendra (74 Kg), Epp Mae (76 Kg) Irakli Misituri (86 Kg), Giorgi Sakandelidze (125 Kg).
Mumbai Maharathi: Vinesh Phogat (53 Kg), Betzabeth Angelica (57 Kg), Ibragim Ilyasov (57 Kg), Shilpi Yadav (62 Kg), Harphool (65 Kg), Sachin Rathi (74 Kg), Zsanett Nemeth (76 Kg), Deepak Punia (86 Kg), Baitseev Vladisiav (125 Kg).
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