Haryana Hammers outmuscled Bengaluru Yodhas 4-3 in front of their home crowd to register their second consecutive victory in the inaugural edition of the Pro Wrestling league (PWl) here on Wednesday.
The highlight of the match-up was the battle between 2012 london Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt and his protege Bajrang Punia in the men’s 65kg category.
Bajrang matched his senior counterpart in technique and physical strength for most of the bout but Yogeshwar clinched a 3-2 victory in the closing stages.
This was Haryana’s second win in the tournament. They had defeated Dilli Veers 5-2 in their first match.
The contest was off to a thrilling start as Haryana’s Nitin Rathee defeated Bengaluru’s Sandeep Tomar 9-8 in a bitterly fought encounter in the men’s 57kg category.
Tatiana Kit increased Haryana’s lead by outclassing lalita Sherawat of Bengaluru by fall in the women’s 53kg category.
The Ukrainian was leading 4-0 at the break. She picked up another two points in the second round before pinning lalita to the mat with more than a minute still to go.
Pavlo Olinik reduced Haryana’s lead by overpowering Yuri Maier by technical superiority (10-0) in the men’s 97kg division. The former European champion from Ukraine dominated his Argentine opponent right from the start and wrapped up the bout in the first half.
Geetika Jakhar put the Hammers firmly in the driver’s seat by edging out Navjot Kaur Bengaluru in the women’s 69kg event. Although the duo were locked 3-3 at the end of the bout, Geetika was adjudged the winner as she was the last to score.
Yogeshwar wins thriller
Yogeshwar handed the Hammers an unassailable lead by defeating a gallant Bajrang Punia 3-2 in the men’s 65kg class.
There was very little to differentiate the two in the early stages. Both wrestlers were equally matched in terms of technique. Although Yogeshwar took a 1-0 lead as Bajrang was adjudged to be too defensive by the referee.
The bout burst into life in the second round as Bajrang clinched a couple of points to surge into the lead. The youngster held the more experienced Yogeshwar at bay for most of the round. But the Olympic bronze medallist made good use of his superior experience to claim victory right at the end.
Yulia Ratkevich kept Bengaluru in the hunt by defeating Oksana Herhel by technical superiority by technical superiority (11-0) in the women’s 58kg event.
In the last bout of the day Bengaluru’s icon player and captain Narsingh Yadav beat Haryana’s levan lopez 8-5 in the men’s 74kg category.