The third edition of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) was off to a great start in Delhi’s Siri Fort Sports Complex on Tuesday when Mumbai Maharathi, led by Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, defeated Delhi Sultans 5-2.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar was going to make his debut in the league on Tuesday but unfortunately that didn’t happen. His participation was blocked after Mumbai Maharathi won the toss.
There is a provision in PWL where the team which wins the toss at beginning of the match can block a player from the opposite team. In this case, Sakshi, as expected, decided to block Sushil Kumar
Sandeep Tomar of Delhi Sultans faced Yatsenko Andrey of Mumbai Maharathi in the 57 kg men’s category in the first match of the night. Sandeep dominated the first round but the Ukranian made a nice comeback in the second round. In the end, the 26-year old Indian prevailed over Andrey, winning the match 14-9, thereby Delhi taking an early lead.
In the second match of the evening Mumbai’s 24-year old Seema was pitted against Delhi’s 29-year old Maroi Mezien from Tunisian in the 50 kg women’s category. The first round was fiercely fought with Mumbai leading 2-1. The grapplers failed to score in the initial minutes of the second round but eventually in the last few seconds Mumbai’s Seema edged past Maroi to win the match 5-1. With this win Mumbai levelled Delhi at 1-1 at the end of the second bout.
Sandeep Tomar of Delhi Sultans (in blue) won the first bout of the evening against Yatsenko Andrey of Mumbai Maharathi.
In the third bout, Delhi’s captain Albrov Aslan faced Mumbai’s Satyawart Kadian in the 92 kg men’s category. Aslan started the first round on great note, turning a 2-pointer into a 10-pointer by rolling over Kadian four times. At the end of the first round, Delhi led by 11-0.
The second round was cut short and the match was awarded to Aslan after he notched 4 more points to take a 15-0 lead. Aslan won the bout as he led by 15 points and according to PWL rules, a wrestler wins if he has a 15-point lead
At this point, the Sultans led Maharathi by 2-1.
The fourth match was fought between Delhi’s Egyptian wrestler Samar Amer Hamza and Mumbai’s French wrestler Cynthia Vescan in the 76 kg women’s category. Both wrestlers struggled to score in the first round with Samar managing only a solitary point. The French woman started the second round well, earning 4-points after she pulled Samar to the ground. Cynthia did well for the Mumbai team in the second round, winning it by 12-1.
Delhi’s Hitender faced Mumbai’s Satender Malik in the 125 kg men’s category in the fifth bout of the night. The first round was well contested with the two grapplers ending it at 4-2 in Delhi’s favour. Mumbai’s Satender made a great comeback in the last two minutes of the bout to win the most closely fought match of the evening 7-6.
For the first-time in the evening Mumbai led Delhi by 3-2.
The sixth bout of the evening was the most high profile one. Mumbai’s skipper Sakshi Malik fought Delhi’s Monia in the 62 kg women’s category.
It was an easy outing for the Olympic medallist, who ended the first round at 10-2. The second round had a premature ending as Sakshi Malik won it by technical superiority after she beat Monia 18-2, like Aslan did in the third bout
With Sakshi’s win Mumbai Maharathi clinched the match after they took an unassailable 4-2 lead over the Delhi Sultans, with one match remaining
Mumbai’s French wrestler Cynthia Vescan (in white) defeated Delhi’s Egyptian wrestler Samar Amer Hamza in the 76 kg women’s category.
For the last bout of the evening, Delhi’s Haji Aliev from Azerbaijan faced Mumbai’s Soslan Ramonov in the 65 kg men’s category. As expected the bout between Haji, world champion and Soslan, Olympic gold medallist was highly competitive with Soslan gaining the upper hand with a single-point lead in the first round. The second round was also hardly fought with Soslan winning it by 3-2.
With the last bout also going in favour of Mumbai, the Mumbai Maharathi won the inaugural match 5-2 of the third season of PWL against Delhi Sultans. The Veer Marathas will be playing Haryana Hammers on Wednesday in the second match of Pro Wrestling League.
-The Quint
