Epp Mae, Sarita steer UP Dangal to their first win

Anil Datt

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Ludhiana, January 22

Epp Mae warded off a stiff challenge by the 2017 world championship silver medalist Zseneth Nemeth to score a hard earned 5-3 win in the 76-kg category and give UP Dangal their first win this season in the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season-4 currently underway at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium.

UP Dangal defeated Mumbai Maharathi 4-3 thereby denting the Vinesh Phogat-led team’s chances of making it to the semis.

Asian Championship silver medallist, Georgi Sakandelidze put UP Dangal ahead 3-2 beating European champion Baitseev Vladislav of Mumbai 2-1 in the 125-kg superheavyweight bout.

After that it was left to Mae to consolidate the lead and she did it in style defeating the more experienced Zseneth in a closely fought encounter while the national champion, Harphool won the last bout of the day drubbing Pankaj Rana 15-6 in an intensely fought men’s 65-kg category bout reducing UP’s victory margin to 4-3.

Earlier, the current national championship gold medallist, Jitender gave UP Dangal a head start beating Mumbai Maharathi’s junior national champion, Sachin Rathi 14-0 in the 74-kg bout after dominating completely the senior wrestler.

The 2017 Asian Championship silver medallist, UP Dangal’s Sarita caused a major upset beating Mumbai Maharathi’s 2018 Pan-American Championship bronze medallist from Venezuela, Betzabeth Angelica 6-1 in the women’s 57-kg weight category.

It was a victory of Sarita’s grit and determination as she kept up an aggressive approach against Betzabeth to keep her at bay which put UP Dangal 2-0 ahead in the tie.

Deepak Punia brought Mumbai Maharathi back into the contest by scoring an upset victory over the European U-23 silver medallist from Georgia, Irakli Misituri of UP Dangal 3-2 in an intense contest to make it 1-2 after three bouts.

The Junior World Championship-2018 silver medallist, Punia showed excellent skills to get the better of Irakli in a low-scoring match where the UP wrestler was leading 1-0 at the break.

Mumbai Maharathi’s best bet, Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Vinesh Phogat had to withstand a tremendous challenge from 2017 world champion, Vanesa Kaladzinskaya to finally prevail over 5-3 in the women’s 53-kg category.

This win helped Mumbai tie the score at 2-2 after four bouts. However, it wasn’t just Mumbai’s day today as UP came back to score a memorable win through Epp Mae.

Wednesday’s Preview: Clash of titans as Bajrang takes on Aliyev 

Ludhiana: Pro Wrestling League (PWL) would witness the most-anticipated clash of Season-4 when defending champions Punjab Royals’ Bajrang Punia takes on debutant MP Yodha’s Haji Aliyev in the last tie of the second leg at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday. The outcome of the tie will depend a lot on this clash between the World No 1 in 65-kg category, Punia, and three times world champion Aliyev who had remained unbeaten last season and has been unconquered so far this season too. The category was blocked in Season 2 preventing the big clash from happening but as both are icon players for their respective teams this season, fans won’t be deprived of this clash of titans. The other big match of the day would be between world championship sliver medallist, Pooja Dhanda and European Championship silver medallist, Mimi Hristova of Bulgaria. Mimi had to struggle against Betzabeth Angelica in the only bout she featured this season. Pooja on the other hand, after defeating Betzabeth and Katherina Zhydachivska had to face defeat against the world junior champion, Anastasia Nichita. The other big bout would be between MP Yodha’s Sandeep Tomar and Punjab Royals’ Nitin Rathee in the 57-kg category. Last year, Nitin gave Sandeep a scare, and in the first season, the Punjab wrestler caused a major upset beating the MP stalwart. After losing two consecutive bouts this season, Ritu Phogat gets an opportunity to make amends against junior wrestler, Anju in the 53-kg weight category. In the men’s 74-kg catgeory, East Asian champion, Punjab’s Amit Dhankhar is up against the 2017 European Championship bronze medallist, Vasil Mikhaillov. Amit’s loss to promising and an upcoming wrestler, Sachin Rathi should act as an eye opener to him. Punjab team co-owner Dharampal Rathee said they have put their campaign on track with a win in the last tie against Delhi Sultans and would not stop at any cost till they lay their hands on the title again. Coach of MP Yodhas, Jagminder on the other hand believes that they have made their intentions clear by winning two consecutive ties and his team will look to carry on the momentum in the remaining matches too. TNS

SQUADS

MP Yodha: Ritu Phogat (53 Kg), Sandeep Tomar (57 Kg), Pooja Dhanda (57 Kg), Elise Manolova (62 Kg), Haji Aliyev (65 Kg), Vasil Mikhaillov (74 Kg), Andrea Carolina (76 Kg), Deepak (86 Kg), Akash Antil (125 Kg)

Punjab Royals: Anju (53 Kg), Mimi Hristova (57 Kg), Nitin Rathee (57 Kg), Bajrang Puniya (65 Kg), Anita (62 Kg), Amit Dhankhar (74 Kg), Alina Stadnik Makhynia (76 Kg), Dato Marsagishvili (86 Kg), Korey Jarvis (125 Kg)