The knockout round of the Pro Wrestling League got underway tonight as table-toppers Revanta Mumbai Garuda took on the Bengaluru Yodhas in the first semifinal. The Mumbai side were comfortable 5-2 winners when the teams met during the league stage and it was the same scoreline this time around as well.
The first bout of the semifinal saw the Garuda take the initiative as Odikadze Elizbar outmuscled the Yodhas’ Pavlo Oliynik in the 97 kg category clash. The Georgian giant came back from behind and survived an early scare to put away his opponent with relative ease.
Oliynik took an early 0-2 lead at the minute mark, but Odikadze equalized almost instantly and ended the round with a 3-2 advantage. He stamped his authority in the second round as he took a minute to make it 5-2 and then 7-2 with seconds left, giving the Ukrainian absolutely no room to maneuver or make a comeback.
Next up was an absolute thriller as the youngest of the famed Phogat sisters, Ritu, made an astonishing comeback in the second round to stun her opponent Alyssa Lampe in the 48 kg category bout. Lampe, the Bengaluru grappler, was on top for most of the first round and went into the second with a 0-4 lead.
However, in a guerilla-like attack, Phogat produced a 40-second blitz that saw her reel off six points in a row after taking down Lampe and rolling her over twice. She reversed another advance from the American to extend her lead to 8-4. Then in a crushing blow, she made another stunning reversal and somehow managed to pin Lampe down on both shoulders to clinch the win by pinfall and double her side’s lead in the tie.
The clash of the heavyweights - the 125 kg category was up next as the Garuda extended their lead to 3-0 after an unfancied Giorgi Sakandelidze defeated his fellow compatriot and Olympic silver medalist Modzmanashvili Davit. The first round was quite even, and ended at two points apiece.
Sakandelidze then displayed some fine speed and skill to make it 5-2 in his favour, before Davit struck back to reduce the deficit to one point with over half a minute left. The Mumbai man took advantage of his opponent’s desperation to score another couple with a fine reversal and close the game out at 7-2.
Mumbai showcased their domination as they sealed the fixture in just the fourth bout as Nigerian star Odunayo Adekuoroye wrapped up proceedings in 75 seconds to win the 53 kg clash by technical fall. Her opponent Lalita Sherawat was no match for her reach and strength and offered no resistance to the onslaught whatsoever.
Adekuoroye leapt at Sherawat on the very first second and rolled her over to take a 4-0 lead even before anyone knew what had happened. She made it 6-0 on the minute mark and rolled her rival over twice with a vice-like ankle hold to win four more points and gain the required ten-point lead.
With the tie already over, Yodhas skipper Narsingh Yadav notched up a consolation win over Pardeep in the 74 kg category. The 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist wasted no time and racked up a 5-0 lead in the first round. He could only pick up a further couple in the second as Pardeep offered some fight and the bout closed at a solid 7-0 win for Yadav.
It was the Garuda skipper’s turn to register a win for her team next as Adeline Gray won by technical fall against Navjot Kaur in the 69 kg category. She took a resounding 6-0 lead in the first 35 seconds itself as she rolled over Kaur twice.
The Bengaluru grappler tried to offer some resistance but it was only a matter of time before Gray downed her again and rolled her over to make it 10-0 and put an end to Kaur’s misery just before the end of the first round.
With only pride left to play for, Bengaluru’s Bajrang Punia faced off against Amit Dhankar in the final match. In a fiercely contested 65 kg category bout, Banjrang came up trumps 10-4 to win the all-Indian clash.
He led 8-0 at the end of the first round after rolling over Dhankar multiple times, but saw it reduced to 8-3 early in the second. The Yodhas man picked up another point and won the bout by a respectable margin to end his team’s campaign on a high.
The Mumbai Garuda remain unbeaten in the competition and will face off in the final against either the Punjab Royals or Haryana Hammers, who will contest the second semifinal tomorrow.
