NCR Punjab Royals win over Mumbai Maharathi on Day 4 of PWL Season 2
NCR Punjab Royals dictated terms on Day 4 of the Pro Wrestling league Season 2 as they beat Mumbai Maharathi 4-3 at the K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium here today. Mumbai manages to take an early lead through captain Vladimir Khinchegashvili but the Punjab dominated the rest of the matches.
Mumbai had an early advantage as they won the toss and decided to block the 53 kg Women's category, thus preventing the dangerous Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye from contesting in the tie. Punjab blocked the 74 kg Men's category, as Mumbai's Jabrayil Hasanov has to sit out as well. Cricketer Harbhajan Singh, co-owner of Mumbai
The opening bout of the tie was won by NCR Punjab Royals as their Captain Vladimir Khinchegashvili used all his experience to overcome a stiff challenge from Mumbai
Mumbai Captain and 2016 Gold Medalist Erica Wiebe drew level with Punjab in the next bout, staging a remarkable comeback to defeat Vasilisa Marzaliuk 4-2. In a bout that saw both saw both blood and sweat drip, Erica, who got injured in the game, countered Vasilisa's aggression using single leg tackles and effecting crucial takedowns to win the 75 kg Women's category.
A highly engrossing bout followed this as Indian grapplers Pankaj Rana from Punjab and Pritam from Mumbai fought neck-and-neck in both the rounds. In the first round, both wrestlers showed tremendous skill and control, even as Pankaj Rana finished on top. The second round saw a flurry of points as a
The fourth bout was contested between Punjab's
Following this, Mumbai
The final bout of the day was contested between Punjab's Krishan Kumar and Mumbai's Pavlo Oliynik in the heavyweight 97 kg Men's category in which the Ukrainian prevailed 2-0, denying his opponent any chance to score points. Although Mumbai finished strongly in the tie, they conceded a 3-4 defeat to Punjab at the end of the day. Speaking after the match, Punjab captain Vladimir Khinchegashvili said: "I am very happy for the team's victory!
Nirmla Devi appeared confident after her victory. "I felt very fresh and confident and put in my 100% in the match today. Happy with my performance but yes I wasn't able to attack much," she said. Heavyweight wrestler Krishan Kumar said, "Had full faith on myself. The coach had also said that you just have to focus on winning and that's what I followed."