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The Pro Wrestling League, powered by Thumsup, kicked off in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium with the Punjab Royals taking on the Mumbai Garuda, amidst some star-studded names such as Dharmendra, Bobby Deol and Virat Kohli coupled with a passionate audience.
The match kicked off with the 57 kg category bout between Vladimir Khinchegashvili and Rahul Aware and turned out to be quite a one-sided affair as Khinchegashvili didn’t allow his opponent to score even a single point and won 6-0.
The highlight of the game was his vicious ankle and leg hold in the second round which jolted Aware and prevented any chances of a comeback, giving Punjab the lead.
Mumbai fought back to level the tie in the 53kg Women’s bout with Odunaya Adekouroye outclassing her opponent Priyanka Phogat. The first round was 4-2 in favour of the African wrestler and was evenly matched, but she seized the initiative with a massive spinebuster which earned her four points and she eventually went on to win 10-2.
The third bout was an engaging affair between two Indian wrestlers in the 76 kg category - Praveen Rana and Pardeep, as the Punjab wrestler fought back to claim a stirring victory. Rana was trailing 3-1 after the first round but fought back in the second as he claimed four points after a strong left ankle grab, making it 3-5.
The match got tense as it wore on and both wrestlers began to lose their cool as Pardeep fought back to make it 5-5, but the win was awarded to Praveen in the end.
Mumbai made a comeback into the tie once again with a comprehensive victory by current World Champion Adeline Gray in the Women’s 65kg category bout against Punjab’s Vasilisa Marzaliuk. She took an early lead and was constantly on top of her opponent to lead 6-1 at the end of the first half.
The second half was tightly-fought and both players grappled with each other, but as the final whistle was about to blow, Gray struck a final nail in the coffin to gain four points and take the bout 10-1.
The next round saw Mumbai take the lead in the tie for the first time as Georgian Odikadze Elizbar defeated Indian Mausam Khatri. The first round was a complete washout as Elizbar took it 6-0 after taking on his opponent on both his right and left legs.
Khatri recovered two points early in the second half but Elizbar gained another couple of points after a strong hold on Khatri’s right leg, and took the game 8-3 in the end.
The sixth and penultimate round was easily the most riveting and competitive, and was contested by Geeta Phogat representing the Punjab Royals and Sakshi Malik of the Mumbai franchise in the 58kg category. Phogat, who is the first Indian wrestler to qualify for the Rio Olympics, lost out to her opponent with the scores tied at 8-8.
The first round saw Malik take a 4-0 lead, but Phogat made it 4-2 early in the second round. What followed next resulted in a huge controversy as Malik was awarded four points after a video referral, which took the scoreline to an astonishing 8-2.
Phogat used all her might in the last minute of the round and managed to make it 8-8, but it was Malik who was awarded the win on technical superiority.
In a rather anticlimactic manner, the final bout was quite dry and devoid of any spectacular moments. It was contested between Jargalsaikhan Chuluunbat from Mongolia and Georgian Levan Berianidze in the 125kg category.
It was a 2-1 win for the European as Mumbai claimed victory in the last tie of the day. The bought was fought with both grapplers on their feet as points were scarce and the Mumbai man edged his opponent to complete a 5-2 overall win for his team.
