PARVEEN RANA OUTWRESTLED DINESH KUMAR in the final bout as Punjab Royals overcame a tough challenge from Dilli Veers to clinch a 4-3 victory in an exciting Pro Wrestling League (PWL) contest in Gurgaon on Friday evening.
With both teams having won three bouts each, the contest was decided in the last bout of the day, a clash between Parveen Rana and Dinesh Kumar in the men's 74kg division. Although both wrestlers were equally matched in the opening round, Rana displayed excellent technique in the second period to take a 6-2 win.
This was the second win in the competition for Punjab. They lost 2-5 to Mumbai Garudas in the inaugural match of the tournament and defeated Uttar Pradesh Warriors (UPW) 6-1 in their second match.
Punjab are now joint second on the PWL table along with Haryana Hammers with four points.
Dilli Veers, on the other hand, suffered their third consecutive defeat. They had lost to Haryana and UPW in their earlier matches.
London Olympics silver medallist Vladimir Khinchegashvili of Punjab kicked off the proceedings by beating Bekhbayar Erdenebat of Dilli Veer 4-3 in the men's 57kg class.
The duo were locked at 2-2 after the opening round. But Vladimir, the reigning World Champion, clinched the issue in the second round despite a spirited fightback from his opponent.
Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Punjab took a little more than two minutes to outclass Dilli's Nikki by technical superiority (10-0) in the women's 69kg to give her team a 2-0 lead.
World Championship silver medallist Navruzov Ikhtiyor of Uzbekistan kept Dilli Veer in the hunt by defeating Punjab's Rajneesh by technical superiority (10-0) in the men's 65kg division.
The Uzbek took a 4-0 lead in the first period before outclassing Rajneesh with his superb technique after the break.
Yesilirmak Elif Jale brought Dilli Veer back on level terms by overpowering Geeta Phogat of Punjab by fall in the opening round of the women's 58kg event.
Mongolian star Jargalsaikhan Chulungbat (men's 125kg) snatched back the lead for Punjab by quelling the challenge from Dilli's Krishan Kumar by a 4-0 margin.
Up 3-0 at the break, Chulungbat held on to his lead in the second round.
Dilli Veers fought back to level the scores with Vinesh Phogat defeating Yana Rattigan of Punjab 15-6 in the women's 48kg category.
It all boiled down to the bout between Punjab's Parveen Rana and Dilli's Dinesh Kumar in the men's 74kg event.
There was very little to choose between the two in the first round and the score was locked 2-2 at the break.
But Rana unleashed the Fitley move just after the restart to take a decisive lead.