A tough match-up between table-toppers Bengaluru Yodhas and third place Mumbai Garuda to decide who would, at least for the time being, top the table kicked off in front of a Ludhiana crowd that had arrived in force although their home team was not in action.
Ex-WWE Wrestler The Great Khali was present at the toss which was won by Mumbai captain who blocked out the Heavyweight 97kg category for the men, followed by the Bengaluru Yodhas that blocked out the 58kg Women’s category.
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The action kicked off with the Heavyweights as the 125kg Men were up first to start proceedings. Levan Berianidze took to the mat representing Mumbai and went up against fellow Georgian and 2010 Olympic Silver Medalist Modzmanashvili Davit, wearing the colours of the Bengaluru Yodhas.
After both wrestlers started off cautiously, waiting for the other one to make the first false move, Davit opened the scoring and led 1-0 going into the break.
It was the more experienced Davit who started the second round with more intent but neither wrestler really went in for the kill, with both displaying solid defence. Levan then tied up proceedings after successfully taking advantage of Davit’s tackle and partially forcing him to the mat.
With both wrestlers visibly tiring as the bout neared its completion, Levan took Davit’s back and bagged the first bout for the Mumbai franchise with a score of 4-1.
The second match-up of the day was contested in the Men’s 57kg weightclass with 2014 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Rahul Aware squaring up against the 2013 Gold Medalist Sandeep Tomar. Round 1 started with Aware on the front foot and Tomar defending well.
But it was Aware who eventually broke the deadlock and went into the break with a narrow 1-0 lead.
Round 2 started in a markedly more frantic fashion with Tomar chasing the match but was met with solid defence from Aware who held out Tomar’s best efforts to tie up the match and sealed the victory by beautifully countering his tackle and taking his back to close out a second victory for the Mumbai Garude with a scoreline of 3-0.
We head into the first Women’s match-up of the day in the 53Kg category with Mumbai tasting consecutive victories and leading the Bengaluru franchise by an overall score of 2-0.
Mumbai’s 21 year old Nigerian representative and 2014 Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Odunayo Adekuoroye steps up against Lalita Sherawat who was looking to collect Bengaluru’s first win on the night and turn the tide of the match.
It was the Nigerian prodigy however who drew first blood by forcing Sherawat out of bounds early to take a 1-0 lead before taking her opponent’s legs and rolling expertly to race to an 8-0 lead. It only took a further few seconds for her to take a 10-0 lead thus bringing an early end to proceedings in only 1 minute and 25 seconds in round 1.
Mumbai Garuda took a commanding 3-0 lead on the night, heaping pressure on the Bengaluru franchise to win all the remaining 4 bouts in order to come away with the overall victory.
The 4th match-up of the night saw Ritu Phogat square off against Alyssa Lampe in the Women’s 48Kg weightclass and got off to an eventful start with both wrestlers displaying intent before Ritu Phogat forced Lampe out of bounds to take a 1-0 lead. She followed it up by taking her opponent’s back and extending her lead to 3-0.
However her lead was shortlived as Lampe used her experience to take Phogat’s back twice in quick succession and take a 4-3 comeback lead. Alyssa Lampe then displayed more impressive level changes to close out the first round with a 6-3 lead over the Indian.
Round 2 began in the same frantic fashion that saw Ritu Phogat fake beautifully and take Lampe’s leg to cut the lead to 1 point, after which she managed to trip her opponent up and defeat her by fall with the final score of 9-6 to help the Mumbai Garuda to an unassailable 4-0 lead on the night.
The captain of the Mumbai Garuda and World Championship Gold Medalist Adeline Gray was up next to face off against Indian Navjot Kaur in the women’s 69 kg category in the fifth bout of the night.
It didn’t take Grey long to prove her technical superiority as she faked a level change and shot in for a single leg, thus successfully taking her opponent’s back to roll to a 6-0 lead in just a minute and a half, before quickly closing out the match in the dying seconds of the first round with a score of 10-0.
The Icon player of the Mumbai Garuda certainly came to the party as she outclassed the Bengaluru representative despite her team already coasting to an inevitable 5-0 victory.
The penultimate bout of the night featured the Bengaluru Yodaha’s Icon player and captain Narsingh Yadav who was understandably out to prove a point and salvage some pride for his team against Pradeep, in the 74kg category.
It didn’t take Narsingh Yadav long to assert his dominance as he took his opponent’s back and raced to an early 2-0 lead. He continued to press forward and took his opponent down yet again with a single leg and doubled his lead, heading into the break with a 4-0 lead over Pradeep who was clearly on the defensive.
The second round also began on the same vein with Narsingh Yadav further pressing the advantage to secure a 6-0 lead, leaving Pradeep with no answer to his dexterity.
He then closed out the round by repelling Pradeep’s attempts to restore parity and purchased some much needed respite for the Bengaluru Yodahas by putting them on the scoreboard which read 5-1 in favour of the Mumbai Garuda going into the last bout of the night.
After averting a whitewash, the final match-up of the night had Amit Dhankar for the Mumbai Garuda going up against Bajrang Punia representing the Bengaluru Yodahas in the men’s 65kg category.
After jostling for early position, it was Dhankar who forced Punia out of bounds to open the scoring and establish an early 1-0 lead. After fervently working for an opening, Punia managed to pull level and close out the round with an evenly contested 1-1 scoreline.
The second round began much in the same manner as the first with neither wrestler willing to give ground and both defending the other’s attacks masterfully. However it was Dhankar who managed to push Punia out of bounds to establish a 2-1 lead before inexplicably shooting in from the restart only to have Punia ride his attempt and take his back to lead 3-2.
The lead was further increased by a point after a technical foul by Dhankar, before Punia took his back yet again in the dying seconds to secure only Bengaluru’s second victory of the night to take the overall scores to 5-2 in favour of the Mumbai Garuda who top the table at least for the time being.
