NCR Punjab Royals were crowned the champions of the Patanjali Powervita Pro Wrestling league Season 2 as they triumphed over two-time finalists Haryana Hammers 5-4 in an action packed evening at the K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Thursday.
The evening got off to an explosive start as Haryana captain Abdusalam Gadisov came out firing on all cylinders against Punjab's Krishan Kumar in the 97 kg Men's heavyweight category. The Russian grappler gave his team an ideal start as he won 15-0 by virtue of Technical Superiority.
Tunisia's Marwa Amri strengthened Haryana's position further as she defeated Punjab's Manju Kumari 12-0 in the 58 kg Women's category. Punjab Captain Vladimir Khinchegashvili brought his team back in the hunt with a 3-0 victory over Haryana's Sandeep Tomar in the 57 kg Men's category.
The next bout saw an intriguing contest between Haryana's Magomed Kurbanaliev and Punjab's Pankaj Rana in the 70 kg Men's category. Pankaj effected an early takedown to surprise Kurbanaliev but the Russian recovered quickly, using a single leg hold to flip over Pankaj and effect a takedown, almost achieving a Pin Fall in the process. Kurbanaliev continued to effect takedowns even as Pankaj made brave attempts, giving the Russian grappler a run for his money. Although Kurbanaliev was made to work hard for his points, he prevailed eventually, winning by a 9-4 margin.
Punjab's Vasilisa Marzaliuk arrested Haryana's momentum with a 5-0 victory over her opponent Kiran in the 75 kg Women's category.
Russian grappler Ilias Bekbulatov, who replaced the injured Togrul Asgarov in the Punjab camp, came down with an aggressive maneuver against Haryana's Rajneesh, as he effected a strong takedown and coupled it with a series of rollovers. Rajneesh sustained an injury in the maneuver and was unable to take the mat after this, following which he decided to give a Walkover. Bekbulatov won the 65 kg Men's category 13-0 by virtue of Rajneesh's Walkover. Punjab had levelled the tie 3-3.
The following bout was an interesting battle between two champion wrestlers, Haryana's 2016 Olympics Bronze medalist Sofia Mattsson and Punjab's Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye, who has remained unbeaten in PWl history. But, Mattsson won 4-3 in the 43 kg Women's category.
Punjab's Nirmala Devi triumphed over Haryana's Indu Chaudhary 5-2, settling scores for her earlier defeat against the same opponent in the 48 kg Women's category.
The final bout of the evening was the deciding bout as Haryana's Sumit Sehrawat locked horns with Punjab's Jitendra in the 74 kg Men's category. Although the contest went down to the wire, the scales were tilted in Jitendra's favour as he effected multiple takedowns to accumulate points at a rapid pace and take the game away from Sumit, eventually winning with a 10-1 margin. With this victory, Punjab were crowned the Champions of the Pro Wrestling league Season 2.