The Haryana Hammers maintained their unbeaten run in the second season of the Pro Wrestling League as they defeated the Jaipur Ninjas in the first semifinal on Tuesday. As opposed to the league phase, this contest was fought with all nine categories open and it was the Hammers who prevailed with a comfortable 6-3 scoreline.
Despite losing the first two bouts of the tie, the Haryana side won six out of the next seven to storm into the final. While some matches were comfortable wins, the key difference was made by Rajneesh and Sandeep Tomar, who scored exciting and narrow victories in the 65 kg and 57 kg category clashes respectively.
Rajneesh overcame a strong challenge from Rahul Mann and despite facing immense pressure in the last moments of the second round, he held on for an 8-6 victory. “We have wrestled each other 12-13 times in the past and it has always been a close call every time. He fought well but I had the match under control and wasn’t too worried about him catching up,” said Rajneesh in the post-match press conference.
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Tomar followed up his spectacular victory from the previous day with a fine comeback win against Utkarsh Kale, who has also impressed with some performances over the course of the competition. Tomar had 90 seconds to overturn a one-point deficit and he managed to do so at the very last second of the bout.
“I’ve wrestled with him many times before and it was always a close contest. I was feeling good after yesterday’s win and I gave my 100 percent in this one. I’m looking forward to the final now,” said the grappler with a wide grin.
The Hammers picked up ten out of ten points in the league stage, with five dominant wins. Tomar was coming off the back of what he called the biggest victory of his career after he defeated Rio gold medalist Vladimir Khinchegashvili of the Punjab Royals in the final league game.
The Ninjas had opened up a 2-0 lead after Jakob Makarashvili and Ritu Phogat won their respective bouts handsomely, but Haryana’s Magomed Kurbanaliev and Marwa Amri leveled things up with resounding wins of their own. Jenny Fransson was the only other Jaipur wrestler to notch up a win, as her compatriot Sofia Mattsson and Hammers captain Abdusalam Gadisov picked up victories to take the overall scoreline to 6-3.
In the Rajneesh versus Rahul Mann matchup, both wrestlers fought hard on the mat, with Rajneesh being the attacker-in-chief in the first round, effecting takedowns and push outs to end with a 6-3 lead going into the second round. Although he continued to extend his lead in the second round, Rahul Mann surprised him with a double leg hold and a takedown, as the tension between the two grapplers amplified. It was Rajneesh who held his nerve to register a victory in the end as he won 8-6 in the end.
Sandeep Tomar had a relatively comfortable first round, leading 3-0 after the first three minutes. Fortunes swung both sides in the second as Utkarsh Kale managed a takedown from a standing position to immediately go 4-3 up. With the pressure back on Tomar, the Haryana wrestler scripted a magical recovery in the last 10 seconds as he took down Kale with a decisive manoeuvre, winning the bout 5-4.
The Hammers march on into the final, looking to improve upon their runners-up place from the previous edition. They will meet the winner of the second semifinal, which will be contested between the Punjab Royals and the Mumbai Maharathi on Wednesday.
It was a wonderful display of high-quality wrestling, enjoyed thoroughly by the fans who had come in large numbers to watch the action unfold. While some bouts were more or less one-sided, the remaining ones were well-contested and made for compelling viewing.
