Many eyebrows were raised when the Mumbai Garuda forked out a sum of Rs 37 lakh to get American wrestler Adeline Gray on board for the inaugural season of the Pro Wrestling League. Any questions that anybody might have had were duly answered when Mumbai Garuda comprehensively defeated the Punjab Royals on the opening day of the competition. Gray displayed a masterclass in wrestling in the 65kg Women’s Freestyle category and completely swept her Belarusian opponent Vasilisa Marzaliuk off the mat, who is an Olympic semifinalist herself.
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Gray dominated from the word go and after some grappling and reversals, she raced into a quickfire 4-1 lead. She held firm and didn’t give her opponent any chances to come back into the bout. Like a true champion, she counter-attacked with venom whenever she found the chance and as the round was about to end, she made another sharp move to stretch her lead to 6-1.
The second round was another display of why Gray has been World Champion for the last two years as she displayed great patience and resilience to frustrate and tire her opponent out. She did not let her guard down and managed to fend off any advances or tackles her opponent made. And like in the first round, she waited till the end to strike the final blow. With an outstanding grab and pick-up, she downed Marzaliuk to win four points and end the bout at an astonishing 10-1.
For anyone who has an idea of Gray’s track record, this win was nothing out of the ordinary. She was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and started wrestling at the initiative of her father at age six. She placed in every state tournament in which she took part and has gone on to become a two-time and reigning World Champion.
She spoke at length in the post-match press conference about her experience in India and her early skepticism about taking part in the Pro Wrestling League. When asked about her initial reaction on being offered to compete in the event, she said that she was unsure and did not know what to expect.
After the win against Punjab and interacting with her teammates, she stated that she is very excited about the rest of the tournament. Gray is the icon player and captain of her team, and her leadership skills were on show as she was quick to praise her team’s performance and how every member of the team played an important part in the victory.
Gray talked about how her wrestling experience in high school has helped in this competition where the focus is on the team’s result more than the result of an individual. Last but not the least, she also added that she feels very welcome in India and is looking forward to her time here.
