Tactical Haryana Hammers edge Punjab Royals to enter PWL final

12/26/2015

Haryana Hammers defeated Punjab Royals 4-3 in a tight semi-final contest to enter the final of the inaugural edition of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) at the K D Jadhav Wrestling stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.

Haryana Hammers’ decision to name Tatyana Kit as the captain played a crucial role in their progress to the final as the final bout between Haryana’s Livan Lopez and Parveen Rana in the men’s 74 kg category decided the winner.

After losing icon player Yogeshwar Dutt to injury, Haryana Hammers named Tatyana Kit as the captain in a tactical decision to save the 2015 World Championship bronze medallist from being blocked. Haryana’s tactical play left Punjab’s captain Geeta Phogat with no choice but to block the women’s 48kg category, where Punjab seemed the favourites.

The match proved to be a roller coaster ride as Punjab raced to a 2-0 lead after winning the first two bouts, only to see Haryana crawling back to level terms by winning the next two bouts. The deadlock continued in the next two bouts and left the final bout of the day to decide the winner of the match.

Parveen Rana of Punjab Royals took on Cuban Livan Lopez in the decider in front of a fully packed crowd. The bout started on a negative note for the Punjab Royals team after Parveen suffered an injury to his ankle. But the Punjab wrestler, despite struggling with injury, produced a spirit performance against the Cuban wrestler to keep Punjab in the match.

The Cuban took full advantage of Parveen’s injury to push him out of the playing area to go into the break with a 2-0 lead. Parveen, who was 2013 Commonwealth Championship gold medallist, stuck to his job in the second round to open his account to make it 1-2 after the referee penalised the Cuban for passivity. But Livan Lopez confirmed Haryana’s win in the dying seconds with a takedown to win the bout 5-1.

Haryana Hammers will take on Mumbai Garuda in the final on Sunday to decide the winner of the inaugural PWL title.

Brief Scores:

Punjab Royals 3-4 Haryana Hammers (in order of bout)

1. Rajneesh 12-2 Vishal Rana (M 65kg)

2. Vasilisa Marzaliuk 4-0 Geetika Jakhar (W 69kg)

3. Mausam Khatri 4-5 Andriitesey Valerii (M 97kg) (Win by pin)

4. Priyanka Phogat 4-5 Tatyana Kit (W 53kg) (Win by pin)

5. Jargalsaikhan Chuluunbat 5-1 Hitender (M 125kg)

6. Geeta Phogat 0-4 Oksana Herhel (W 58kg) (Win by pin)

7. Parveen Rana 1-5 Livan Lopez Azcuy (M 74kg)

Blocked Categories: M 57kg, W 48kg