Maharathis outclass Dangal to register maiden victory

 Mumbai Maharathis outclassed UP Dangal 5-2 to register their maiden win in the Pro Wrestling 2 at the KD Jadhav indoor stadium on Saturday.

UP won the toss and blocked the 97 kg men's category, staving off the threat of Pavlo Olinyk, whereas Mumbai decided to block the 53 kg women's category, making Babita Kumari sit out for the tie.

Pritam provided Mumbai a thrilling start in men’s 70 kg after he fought back from the brink of defeat in the final few seconds. UP’s Amit Dhankar was in control deep into the second round, leading 3-0, before paying for being too passive. It awarded a point to Pritam, who then earned two more by strongly taking down Dhankar. With scores locked 3-3, Pritam was declared the winner by the virtue of winning the last point.

Mumbai captain and Rio Olympic gold medallist Erica Wiebe added to Mumbai tally by besting Maria Mamashuk 4-0.  Wiebe, who is on a winning spree, got the better of Mamashuk, silver medallist in Rio in 63 kg, with power and speed.

Mumbai then pulled a stunner in the women’s 48 kg. Carolina Castillo Hidalgo, up against Elitsa Yankova, UP captain and the Olympic bronze medallist of UP Dangal, registered a shock 4-1 victory to put Mumbai up 3-0.

In the men’s 65 kg, Andrey Kviatkovski opened the scoring for UP when he beat Vikas Kumar by the virtue of the last-point win.

Mumbai’s Kumari Sarita then quickly restored the order through women’s 58 kg with a dominating 9-1 victory over Manisha, who had replaced Geeta Phogat in the tie.

Geeta was ruled out because of fever, though she cheered for her team from the sidelines. With the win, Mumbai also clinched the tie with an unassailable 4-1 lead.

The 2016 Olympics bronze medalist Jabrayil Hasanov from Mumbai prevailed over UP's Tariel Gaphrindashvili 3-1 in the 74 kg men’s bout and extending Mumbai's lead by 5-1.

In the final bout, Amit Kumar Dahiya handed UP team, which is yet to a win a tie, its second win of the evening. He beat Rahul Aware 3-2.