PWL: Ravi Kumar clinches it for Haryana Hammers
LUDHIANA: The 2018 World U23 Championships silver medalist Haryana Hammers’ Ravi Kumar defeated the experienced Sandeep Tomar of MP Yodha in the men’s 57kg category 10-1 to give his team their second win in the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season 4 in Ludhiana here on Saturday.
The Hammers won 4-3. Junior world champion Anastasia Nichita of Haryana Hammers won an important bout against Pooja Dhanda. Pooja, known for her memorable comebacks, was trailing 0-3 after first round but the world champion didn’t let the Indian dictate terms today and hung on to finally win the bout 8-7 and push the tie to the decider.
Earlier, the 2018 World Championships bronze medalist Ali Shabanov of Haryana Hammers played an aggressive first round in his 86kg bout against the 2017 Commonwealth Championships gold medalist Deepak of MP Yodha and pocketed eight points in a combination of take down and near fall. MP Yodha’s Colombian wrestler Andrea Olaya clinched the keenly fought women’s 76kg bout against the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Kiran after some drama.
The 65kg men’s bout between MP Yodha’s European Championships gold medalist from Azerbaijan Haji Aliyev and national champion Rajneesh was much more closely fought than the final score line suggests. At 2-1 it almost looked like Rajneesh is on his way to cause a major upset, but Aliyev’s experience helped him win the bout 5-2 with an escape and a takedown and put Yodha’s ahead in the tie.
The best bout of the evening happened between MP Yodha’s Elise Monolova and Haryana’s Tatyana Omelchenko in the female 62kg category. Both wrestlers showed tremendous skills before Tatyana clinched the bout 6-5 and help Haryana Hammers restored parity at 2-2. In a dramatic comeback, Vasil Mikhailov put MP Yodha ahead snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against Praveen Rana of Haryana Hammers in the men’s 74kg category.