UP Warriors bettered Dilli Veer 4-3 in an exciting PWL contest
UTTAR PRADESH WARRIORS (UPW) bettered Dilli Veer 4-3 in an exciting Pro Wrestling League (PWL) contest at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on Tuesday.
This was UPW's first win of the tournament. They had suffered a 1-6 thrashing at the hands of Bengaluru Yodha's in their first match.
Dilli Veer, who had lost 2-5 to Haryana Hammers in their campaign opener, suffered their second consecutive defeat.
Tuesday's contest was the most exciting of all the PWL matches so far, and the final result was decided in the last bout of the day -- a battle between the experience of UPW's Satyavart Kadian and upcoming youngster Gurpal Singh of Dilli Veers.
World Championship bronze medallist Bekhbayar Erdenebat gave Dilli Veer a winning start by edging out UPW's Jaideep 4-3 in the men's 57kg division.
Jaideep took a 2-0 lead in the first minute but Erdenebat pulled level just before the end of the opening round.
The Mongolian made good use of his superior experience to pick up two points at the start of the second.
A desparate Jaideep picked up a point towards the end, but Erdenebat managed to hold on.
Sarita brought UPW back to level terms with an upset win over Dilli Veers' experienced turkish wrestler Yesilirmak Elif Jale 1-0 in the women's 58kg category.
Krishan Kumar wrested back the lead for Dilli by getting the better of Joginder in an exciting clash in the men's 125kg category.
With the two grapplers separated by single point at the break, the bout sprang into life in the second round.
The lead changed hands repeatedly as the bout finished with the two competitors locked at 8-8. But Krishan was declared the winner as he had bagged more points at a stretch.
Vinesh Phogat consolidated Dilii's lead by outclassing Kogut Oleksandra of UPW by technical superiority (11-0) in the women's 48kg.
World Championships silver medallist Pürevjavyn Unurbat (men's 74kg) of UPW showed ample glimpses of his class as he blanked Dinesh Kumar 5-0 to reduce Dilli's lead.
Dinesh, a recent entrant to the senior level, showed plenty of promise and appreciable physical strength, but was no match for the experienced star grappler from Mongolia.
A gallant Babita Kumari (women's 53kg) levelled the issue for UPW by defeating Dilli Veers' Liliya Horishna 13-12 in an edge of the seat thriller.
WIth the scores locked 4-4 at the end of the first period, Lilya made good use of the Fitley move to lead 12-4 midway through the second round.
But Babita brought the packed stadium to its feet by claiming nine points on the trot to take an exciting victory.
It boiled down to the battle between UPW's Satyavart Kadian and Dili's Gurpal Singh in the men's 97kg division.
Both wrestlers were well-matched in both strength and technique, but it was Satyavart's superior experienced that proved to be the difference in the end.
Up 1-0 by the end of the first round, the veteran Satyavart dominated Gurpal in the second round to chalk up a 4-1 win.
