After being blocked from contesting in the previous fixture, Mumbai Garuda’s Sakshi Malik eked out a narrow and hard-fought win against Sarita of the UP Warriors in the 58 kg category bout on the eighth day of the Pro Wrestling League. Her victory, along with four others by her fellow teammates, allowed the Mumbai side to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign and lay down the marker for other teams.
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Coming off the back of an inspirational victory against Geeta Phogat on the opening day, Sakshi showed her class and composure to grab another win. It was quite a cagey affair with some strong grappling as both wrestlers were solid in defense and looked to cut down any opportunities for their opponent.
Sakshi was the first to put points on the board as she edged into a 1-0 lead after Sarita was penalized. The situation was still tight as the first round came to a close, but as they say, it was just the calm before the storm as the second round saw some enthralling moves by both grapplers.
Just seconds into the second round, Sakshi surprised her opponent with a vicious attack and lifted her completely off her feet. She then promptly deposited Sarita on the mat to make it 3-0 as the UP wrestler did well to avoid a pin or a serious loss of points as she twisted her body mid-air to make sure that she does not concede more than two points.
This seemed to have buoyed her confidence as she started to make inroads into Sakshi’s position and finally scored her first points after downing her rival and then spinning around behind her to take the score to 3-2. Sarita tried her level best to come back into the bout, but Sakshi held firm and avoided any further loss of points. She managed to take the win in another nailbiting encounter and brought her side back into the tie.
After the match, she explained why it was difficult to win against a junior wrestler and admitted that this bout was not her best performance. She stated that she had fought Sarita many times before and both of them knew each other’s game inside out, which made it challenging for her to dominate and assert her authority.
Speaking on the team format of the competition, Sakshi spoke about the bonding and team spirit that her side had inculcated, saying that all the wrestlers fought for the team’s win and that the team’s cause is above the individual’s.
She said that the league has helped her interact with world-class foreign wrestlers, who have helped her improve and raise her game. She says that having the likes of Adeline Gray in the team acts as a huge motivator for her and that she is inspired to do better by having such illustrious teammates by her side.
