PWL: Sandeep, Rajneesh shine; Haryana enter final

New Delhi, January 17

Sandeep Tomar and Rajneesh, along with Haryana Hammer's foreign exports, helped the team register a came-from-behind win to enter the final of the Pro Wrestling League Season 2 here today. Haryana beat new entrants Jaipur Ninjas 6-3 in the first semifinal.

After Magomed Kurbanaliev and Marwa Amri levelled the scores for Haryana, Rajneesh, Sandeep and Sofia Mattsson ensured that the table-toppers during the group stage entered the final with a dominating show.

Haryana will clash with the winner of the second semifinal between Punjab Royals and Mumbai Maharathis.

None of the categories were blocked today. Georgia's Jakob Makarashvili gave Jaipur the lead by defeating Sumit Sehrawat 10-0 in men's 74kg category. Jaipur’s Ritu Phogat beat Indu Chaudhary 8-0 in the women's 48kg category.

Kurbanaliev and Amri then proved their dominance on the mat with easy victories to help Haryana level the scores 2-2. Magomed of Russia beat Vinod Kumar Omprakash 5-0 in the men's 70kg. It was a cakewalk for Marwa in the women's 58kg against Pooja Dhanda as the Tunisian clinched the bout 10-0.

Rajneesh gave Haryana the lead for the first time today after eking out a 8-6 win over Rahul Mann in the men's 65kg. Rio Olympics bronze medallist Jenny Fransson claimed the sixth bout of the day to tie the scores 3-3. Sweden's Fransson beat Kiran of Haryana 8-0 in the women’s 75kg. Tomar, who stunned Rio Olympics gold medallist Vladimir Khinchegashvili yesterday, beat Utkarsh Kale 5-4 in men's 57kg.

Rio Games bronze medallist Sofia Mattsson then took just two minutes and 15 seconds to steer Haryana into the final with an 8-0 win over Betzabeth Arguello in the women's 53kg.

Haryana captain Abdusalam Gadisov continued his unbeaten run in the tournament by getting the better of Elizbar Odikadze 5-4 in men's 97kg. “I was confident after beating an Olympics medallist yesterday. It was a very close match but I am used to playing such close games against him," said Tomar. — PTI