Pooja leads from the front

Tribune News Service
Panchkula, January 15 

Pooja Dhanda lived up to her favourite tag as she overcame a strong challenge from Romanian Katherina Zhydachivska of Delhi Sultans to lead debutant MP Yodha to their first win in the Pro Wrestling League at Tau Devi Lal Stadium here on Tuesday.  

Yodha were trailing 2-3 when the captain came to the mat and her win helped the side push the tie to the decider.

Sandeep Tomar then overcame the early challenge of Delhi Sultan’s Pankaj to win the decider 9-7 and help MP Yodha to a 4-3 victory. 

The bout between the former and current national champions Deepak and Praveen in the 86kg category heated up the proceedings on a cold winter evening. Praveen took a one-point lead at the break but Deepak bagged six points on the trot to send shockwaves through the Delhi camp. Praveen bagged one more point to make it 7-6, but Deepak clinched the bout after winning the last point.

In the 53kg category, MP Yodha’s Ritu Phogat trailed 0-1 against national champion Pinki after the first round. Ritu tried hard to gain the lead and surged 3-1 ahead midway through the second round. But Delhi Sultan’s Pinki came back strongly to pin Ritu down and clinch the bout 5-3. 

The 2017-18 World Military Championships gold medalist, Khetik Tsabalov, displaying excellent technique put Delhi Sultans ahead with a 17-2 win over Vasil Mikhailov.

Delhi Sultans went 3-1 ahead after Anastasia Shustova finished her 76kg bout against Andrea Olaya in less than a minute, pinning the MP Yodha wrestler down twice in that period to win 6-0.  

However, MP Yodha’s Haji Aliyev brought his team back into the reckoning with a 9-2 win over Andrey Kviatkovski.

Earlier, Delhi Sultans won the toss and blocked the 62kg female category, preventing Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik from taking the field against Elise Monolova. 

MP Yodha in return blocked the 125kg category, preventing Akash Antil and Satender Malik from taking the field.