Day 2 - Pro Wrestling League: Bengaluru Yodhas dominate UP Warriors

Bengaluru Yodhas took on UP Warriors on the 2nd day of PWL

Day 2 of the inaugural Pro Wrestling League saw the Bengaluru Yodhas take on the UP Warriors in a heavyweight clash at the KD Jadhav Wrestling Stadium in New Delhi as Yogeshwar Dutt kept a watchful eye in the audience.

Bengaluru took the lead in the tie after winning the first bout, which was the 57kg Mens category. Local favourite Sandeep Tomar displayed some outstanding and resolute defense to defeat his opponent Sergye Ratushniy.

He made it 2-0 after some grappling by both players and made a stunning reversal as he broke free from an ankle hold and pinned down his opponent to take the score to 4-0. Ratushniy was quick to attack the ankle again and was successful this time around and reduced the deficit to 4-2.

The second half was scoreless, thanks to some stoic defending by the Indian wrestler, as he outmuscled every attack by his Ukranian counterpart.

The Yodhas doubled their advantage thanks to a one-sided win by Bajrang Punia in the 65 kg category as he recovered from a tense start to make it 3-0 at the end of the first round against Sushil Kumar of the Warriors.

Kumar fought back early in the second round to make it 3-2, but Bajrang did not let him come back into the game. He performed some strong holds and showed his class to end the bout at 10-2, just two points short of an automatic win, which highlights why he is a silver medallist at Asian and Commonwealth level.

The third bout of the tie saw a stunning comeback by Bengaluru’s Alyssa Lampe in the 48kg Women’s tie, as she overcame an early four point deficit to take the victory in the last moments of the game.

The first half ended with UP’s Kogut Oleksandra 4-0 up, but her American opponent made it 4-2 with some early pressure in the second round. It became 4-4 at the four-minute mark and with just seconds to go, Lampe managed to outmuscle her opponent and pushed her out of the ring to gain a point and end the bout at 4-5 in Bengaluru’s favour.

The Bengaluru Yodhas sealed the tie with Ukranian import Pavlo Oliynik out-grappling his Indian opponent Satyavrat Kadian in a tight affair in the 97kg category. The first half ended 2-0 in Oliynik’s favour and remained the same for almost the entire second round.

Kadian rescued a point in the dying seconds but it was not enough as the Yodhas ensured they would win the tie after taking an unassailable 4-0 lead.

With her team 4-0 down, Babita Kumari displayed a virtuoso performance to defeat Lalita Sherawat to gain a consolation win for her UP side in the 53kg category. The 2014 CWG gold medallist was down 0-2 early in the first round but made it 2-2 and then performed a stunning move to make it 4-2 after a vicious throw.

She managed to grab a further four points in the next round as it ended 8-2 in Babita’s favour.

The penultimate tie of the round, the 58kg Women’s tie, lasted just 30 seconds as Bengaluru’s Yuliya Ratkevich defeated the holding National Games champion Ritu Malik. Malik took an early 1-0 lead but it was just a matter of seconds before Yuliya fought back and won the match with a telling move.

She was awarded four points and the referee then called a halt to proceedings and consequently awarded the bout to the Bengaluru wrestler.

Narsingh Yadav, who won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, produced a dominant performance in the last bout of the tie as he decimated his opponent in the 74 kg category. He led 1-0 after a tight first half but turned on the heat in the second as he reeled in six points in a series of moves to lead 7-0.

The bout ended with the score at 9-1 to the Bengaluru man, quite symbolic of his team’s domination over the seven bouts as they won 6-1 overall.