PWL: Ritu Phogat shines as Mumbai Garuda go top of table

With both teams assured of a place in the semi-finals, Haryana Hammers blocked the 65kg category of their icon player Yogeshwar Dutt, who was carrying an injury, while, Mumbai Garuda blocked the women’s 53kg category.

Both teams went neck-to-neck in the first three bouts, with Haryana leading 2-1 at the end of the third bout. Mumbai’s icon player Adeline Gray and Giorgi Sakandelidze took the team to a 3-2 lead after barely breaking a sweat to win their respective bouts. With Haryana needing a victory in the sixth bout, veteran Nirmal Devi took on youngster Ritu Phogat in the women’s 48kg category.

The bout proved to be a close contest as both wrestlers stood their ground to size each other up in the first two minutes. Ritu scored the first point of the bout after the referee penalised the Haryana wrestler for passivity. The veteran Nirmal Devi came roaring back into the contest with a takedown to end the first round leading 2-1.

The 21-year old, who shocked World Championship bronze medallist Alyssa Lampe earlier in the tournament, stunned Nirmal Devi in the second round with a takedown and almost finished the bout by pinning her opponent to the mat.

However, the experienced wrestler escaped Ritu’s attack to keep the contest running. With the clock ticking down, Nirmal added one more point to her tally to close the gap on the Mumbai wrestler, but, her comeback came a bit too late as Ritu finished off the bout 5-4 to assure her team their fifth consecutive victory of the tournament.

With five wins from five matches, Mumbai Garuda finished on top of the league table with ten points, while Haryana Hammers (6), Punjab Royals (6) and Bengaluru Yodhas (4) booked the rest of the places in the semi-finals. UP Warriors and Dilli Veer finished at the bottom of the league table with only a solo victory to their name.

In the first semi-final, Mumbai Garuda will take on fourth placed Bengaluru Yodhas at the K D Jadhav Wrestling stadium in New Delhi on Friday, while in the second semi-final Haryana Hammers will take on Punjab Royals on Saturday.

Brief Scores:

Mumbai Garuda 4-3 Haryana Hammers (in order of the bout)

1. Rahul Aware 7-2 Nitin Rathee (M 57kg)

2. Sakshi Malik 2-4 Oksana Herhel (W 58kg)

3. Pradeep Kumar 0-11 Liván López (M 74kg)

4. Adeline Gray 7-1 Geetika Jakhar (W 69kg)

5. Giorgi Sakandelidze 10-0 Hitender (M 125kg)

6. Ritu Phogat 5-4 Nirmal Devi (W 48kg)

7. Elizbar Odikadze 1-2 Andritesey Valeri (M 97kg)

Blocked Categories:  M 65kg, W 53kg