Yogeshwar Dutt shines as Haryana Hammers are off to winning start

In the best of seven bouts format in PWL, both the teams blocked out the men’s 57kg category and the women’s 53kg category after the toss.

In the first bout of the day, Olympic bronze medallist Livan Lopez of Cuba defeated Dilli Veer’s Dinesh Kumar 7-0 in the men’s 74 kg category to give Haryana Hammers a winning start to the match. The Cuban dominated the bout by opening up a 3-0 lead in the first round against his rival, who struggled with the physicality and the strength of Livan. Dinesh Kumar, a medallist at the junior Asian championships, put forth a spirited performance, however, he was no match for the experienced Cuban.

Youngster Gurpal Singh proved to be the surprise package of the day as he defeated Hammers' Argentinian wrestler Yuri Maier 11-0 in the men's 97kg event. The Indian made an impressive opening to the bout by bringing down the Argentinian wrestler with a leg-hold. He added three more points to his tally before the referee signalled the end of the first round. Gurpal looked much superior to his opponent in the fight as he notched up four more points to win the bout by technical superiority.

With both teams tied at 1-1, it was time for Hammers’ to unleash Oksana Herhel of Ukraine, who attracted the highest bid at the PWL auction. The Ukrainian took on Dilli's Yesilirmak Elif Jale in the women’s 58kg section. The bout turned to be an Oksana show as she defeated Jale by a fall to take Haryana Hammers to a 2-1 lead in the match.

Hammers increased their lead to 3-1 in the next bout as Hitender defeated Krishan Kumar of Dilli Veers 7-4 in the men's 125kg category. The bout turned out to be a controversial one as Hitender notched up four points on the board with Dilli Veer coaching staff contesting the referee’s decision. The referral went Hammers' way as the jury awarded one more point to Hitender.

Krishan Kumar struck back in the second round by bringing down his opponent to add four points to his tally. However, Hitender, who was the 2013 Asian Championships bronze medallist, added three more points to his kitty in the dying seconds to surpass his rival.

In the fourth bout of the day, Geetika Jakhar of the Haryana Hammers defeated Nikki in the women’s 69kg category to take the Hammers to an unassailable 4-1 lead in the match. Having struggled initially, Geetika levelled the bout 2-2 in the second round to win the bout by scoring the last two points.

Dilli Veers icon player Vinesh Phogat showed her prowess as she defeated Haryana's Nirmala Devi 10-0 in the women's 48kg event to bring some cheer to the Dilli camp. Vinesh won the bout by a fall in the first round to finish the contest within minutes.

In the last bout of the day, Hammers’ icon player Yogeshwar Dutt made a successful return to competitive wrestling after his injury, as he defeated 2015 World Championships silver medallist Navruzov Ikhtiyor 3-1 in the 65kg category. The Olympic bronze medallist dominated the first round; however, he struggled in the second round with his fitness as he completed a comprehensive 5-2 victory for the Haryana Hammers.

The PWL now moves to the Punjab leg of the league, where CDR Punjab Royals will take on UP Warriors at the Guru Nanak stadium in Ludhiana on Sunday.