Mumbai Garuda made short work of Bengaluru Yodhas to maintain their unbeaten run and gatecrash into the final of the inaugural Pro Wrestling league here on Friday.
The 5-2 semifinal win against Bengaluru was Mumbai's sixth in as many matches and they go into Sunday's title clash as the sole unbeaten side in the six-team league.
It was Mumbai all the way in the first semifinal. Odikadze Elizbar outwitted Pavlo Oliynik 7-2 in the opening bout played in the men's 97kg class. Odikadze led 3-2 after the first round and ran away with the contest in the second, giving Mumbai the early advantage.
The next bout was in the women's 48kg category between Ritu Phogat and Alyssa lampe, the 2013 World Championship bronze medallist from USA. Ritu had got the better of Alyssa earlier in the competition.
The American had a 4-1 advantage going into the break before Ritu staged a dramatic turnaround, very much like their last encounter, to make it 8-4 and eventually win the battle 10-4 on technical superiority.
In the men's 125kg, Giorgi Sakandelidze of Georgia was up against compatriot Modzmanashvili Davit. Davit did well to hold his formidable opponent to 2-2 by the break. The more experienced Giorgi changed his tactics in the second round to eventually post a convincing 7-4 win.
The next bout saw Odunayo Adekuoroye take on lalita Sherawat in the women's 53kg class. Odunayo lived up to her reputation and finished bout 10-0 on technical superiority. The emphatic win made 4-0 for Mumbai, enough to send them into the final. The remaining three bouts were dead rubbers with Bengaluru left to play for pride.