NCR Punjab Royals beat Mumbai Maharathi 5-4 in the second semi-final of the Patanjali Powervita Pro Wrestling league Season 2 at the K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday. Punjab will take on Haryana Hammers in the final on Thursday.
The evening commenced with an explosive first bout between Mumbai's Jabrayil Hasanov and Punjab's Jitendra in the 74 kg Men's category. Hasanov, the 2016 Olympics Bronze medalist, emerged as the dominant opponent, combining multiple rollovers with a final takedown that saw him win 18-2 by virtue of Technical Superiority.
Punjab returned the favour as Nigerian wrestler Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye, the 53 kg Women's category champion, stunned Mumbai's lalita Sehrawat 16-0 to win on Technical Superiority even as the Indian grappler showed character throughout the bout.
Vladimir Khinchegashvili, Captain of the NCR Punjab Royals and a 2016 Olympics Gold medalist, registered a 12-5 victory over the impressive Rahul Aware of Mumbai Maharathi in the 57 kg Men's category.
Mumbai Captain Erica Wiebe brought her side back into the game, as her contest with Punjab's Vasilisa Marzaliuk culminated into a stalemate-like situation, with neither grappler able to score any points by clear attacking moves. In the end, Erica was adjudged the winner as she was awarded two penalty points in comparison to the one point she gave away to Vasilisa due to passivity. The 75 kg Women's category bout went in Mumbai's favour 2-1.
Punjab's foreign import Ilias Bekbulatov stamped his supremacy on the mat as he did not allow his opponent Vikas from Mumbai much time to stage a comeback. Inside a minute, Bekbulatov was able to effect push outs, takedowns, rollovers, and used attacking single leg holds to rout his opponent 17-0 and win in the 65 kg Men's category.
The following bout was a heavyweight contest between Mumbai's Pavlo Oliynik and Punjab's Krishan Kumar in the 97 kg Men's category. The more experienced Oliynik tasted success early with a takedown against Krishan Kumar and bettered it in the next round by combining an athletic rollover with a takedown. Ukraine-born Oliynik won the bout comfortably with a 12-0 margin.
Nirmala Devi took Punjab to a 4-3 lead in the tie as she prevailed in a closely fought encounter against Mumbai's Carolina Castillo Hidalgo in the 48 kg Women's category. Initially, Carolina held the upper hand as she scored a point off Nirmala's passivity and another with a push out, however, the Indian grappler came back from behind to take down the Colombian wrestler in a remarkable fashion. Even as the scoreline read 2-2 in the end, Nirmala was adjudged the winner by virtue of her scoring points with a Higher Maneuver.
The penultimate bout was a crucial bout for Mumbai as Pritam took on Punjab's Pankaj Rana in the 70 kg Men's category. Pritam showed great intent with some aggressive grappling, as he took down Pankaj twice and added a flipover to go into the second round leading 6-2. Pankaj recovered in the final moments of the bout, a dramatic takedown resulting in him drawing level with Pritam 8-8; however Pankaj was declared the winner based on last Point Win. The win gave Punjab an unassailable 5-3 lead as they advanced to the Finals to set up a clash with Haryana Hammers, knocking out defending champions Mumbai Maharathi.
Following this was an exhibition bout played between Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and 2008 Olympics Silver medalist Andrey Stadnik. The hugely popular Baba Ramdev showed his prowess on the mat, scoring 12 points to Stadnik's nil as the crowd was left feeling enthralled.