Haryana Hammers displayed a dominating performance as they defeated NCR Punjab Royals 5-2 in an evening of upsets at the Patanjali Powervita Pro Wrestling league Season 2 held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium on Monday.
Haryana won an important toss and decided to block the 75 kg Women's category, ruling out Punjab's Vasilisa Marzaliuk from taking part in the tie. Punjab, in turn, selected the 74 kg Men's category to add to the blocked list.
Sandeep Tomar, who participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics was the first wrestler from Haryana, facing off against Punjab Captain and 2016 Olympics Gold medalist Vladimir Khinchegashvili. Tomar showed tremendous character and application as he pulled off an upset win over his much-accomplished opponent in the 57 kg Men's category. Khinchegashvili, who has remained unbeaten in PWl 2, was stunned by a late takedown by Tomar, a decisive attacking maneuvre helping the Haryana grappler to prevail in a memorable 3-1 victory.
Haryana Captain Abdusalam Gadisov continued his unbeaten run in the tournament, as he overpowered Punjab's Krishan Kumar 5-0 in the 97 kg Men's heavyweight category. Indu Chaudhary of Haryana pulled off another upset against the more experienced Nirmla Devi of Punjab in the 48 kg Women's category.
Punjab fielded Russian grappler Ilias Bekbukatov in the next bout, as Togrul Asgarov was rested due to injury. Bekbulatov was up against Haryana's Rajneesh, and finished the proceedings in a clinical fashion, his 11-1 victory keeping Punjab alive in the tie. Haryana's foreign imports Magomed Kurbanaliev and Marwa Amri proved their dominance on the mat as both wrestlers won by virtue of Technical Superiority, finishing on identical scorelines of 16-0. In the fifth bout, Kurbanaliev took on Punjab's Pankaj Rana and employed the double leg hold to good effect, to coast to a commanding victory and provide Haryana with an unassailable 4-1 lead. 2016 Olympics Bronze medalist Marwa Amri made short work of Punjab's youngster Manju Kumari, and overwhelmed her by sheer experience and pedigree.
The final bout of the evening witnessed an exciting contest between stalwarts Sofia Mattsson of Haryana and Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye of Punjab. Adekuoroye registered another upset of the evening.