Mumbai end Haryana’s winning streak

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 24

Vinesh Phogat led Mumbai Maharathi to a convincing 4-3 win and snapped Haryana Hammers’ winning streak in the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season 4 at Gautam Buddha University Indoor Stadium in Greater Noida on Thursday.

The 24-year-old wrestler, who was nominated for the prestigious Laureaus Awards recently, got tough resistance from Haryana Hammers’ Seema, but the Asian Games gold medal winner eventually clinched the bout 12-2 to give his side a 4-2 lead.  

In the inconsequential 57kg men’s bout the world U-23 championships silver medallist Ravi Kumar of Haryana Hammers rallied to beat the European U-23 champion Ibragim Ilyasov of Mumbai Maharathi 13-9. Ibragim was leading 9-5 at one stage. 

Earlier, Harphool gave Mumbai Maharathi an early lead, beating country-mate Rajneesh 5-2 in an evenly contested bout in the 65kg category.

European championships bronze medallist Tatyana Omelchenko restored parity for Haryana Hammers in the next bout with a 16-0 win over Shilpi Yadav in the women’s 62kg category.

It was then world championships bronze medallist Ali Shabanov’s turn to put the Hammers 2-1 ahead, edging past Mumbai Maharathi’s Deepak Punia 4-3 in an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the 86kg category. 

The European championships silver medallist Zseneth Nemeth of Hungary made it 2-2 for Mumbai Maharathi, beating 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kiran 6-4 in the women’s 76kg category. 

Kiran took 4-2 lead midway through the first round, but Zseneth came back strongly to clinch the bout. 

Russia’s Baitseev Vladisiav put Mumbai Maharathi on the doorsteps of victory, wining the 125kg category bout against Haryana’s Ukrainian wrestler Aleksander Khotsianivski 6-2. After the fifth bout, Mumbai was leading 3-2 with Vinesh Phogat scheduled to come in next.