JOIN USHaryana Hammers defeated NCR Punjab Royals 5-2 in an evening of upsets at the Pro Wrestling League Season 2 held at the K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium on Monday.
Haryana won an important toss and decided to block the 75 kg women's category, ruling out Punjab's Vasilisa Marzaliuk from the tie. Punjab, in turn, selected the 74 kg men's category to be blocked.
Sandeep Tomar, who participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics shocked Punjab captain and 2016 Olympics Gold medalist Vladimir Khinchegashvili 3-1. Tomar showed tremendous character and application over his much-accomplished opponent in the 57 kg men's category bout.
The Hammers’ captain Abdusalam Gadisov continued his unbeaten run in the tournament, as he overpowered Punjab's Krishan Kumar 5-0 in the 97 kg men's heavyweight category.
It was then the turn of Indu Chaudhary of Haryana to pulled off another upset. Indu beat experienced Nirmala Devi of Punjab 2-1 in the 48 kg women's category to give Haryana a 3-0 advantage in the tie.
Punjab fielded Russian grappler Ilias Bekbukatov in the next bout, as Togrul Asgarov was rested due to injury. Bekbulatov kept Punjab in the tie with his 11-1 victory over Haryana's Rajneesh in 65kg men’s category.
Haryana's foreign imports Magomed Kurbanaliev and Marwa Amri proved their dominance on the mat as both wrestlers won by virtue of Technical Superiority, finishing on identical scoreline of 16-0. In the fifth bout, Kurbanaliev took on Punjab's Pankaj Rana and provided Haryana with an unassailable 4-1 lead. 2016 Olympics Bronze medalist Amri made short work of Punjab's youngster Manju Kumari.
In the final bout of the evening Sofia Mattsson of beat Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye 8-1 to get Punjab only its second point.