Punjab beat Harya to go joint second

New Delhi, Dec 22: Punjab Royals climbed to the joint second spot with a 5-2 victory over Harya Hammers in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) contest at the KD Jhadav Wrestling Stadium here on Tuesday evening.

Punjab, who were at the fourth spot before Tuesday's match, have thus joined Harya at the second spot with six points in their kitty and strengthened their claim for a place in the semi-fils.

Punjab have played five matches so far while the Hammers -- who suffered their first defeat of the tourment -- have played four. Tuesday's defeat will not affect the Hammers' prospects as they had already secured a spot in the last four stage.

Jarsaikhan Chuluungbat of Punjab continued his good performance in the PWL as he clinched the men's 125kg bout in just 37 seconds, defeating Hitender of Harya by fall.

Harya restored parity when Nirmal Devi (women's 48kg) defeated Punjab's Ya Rattigan 6-3 to record her first win in the PWL. Up 4-1 at the end of the opening round, Devi continued her domition in the second round, using the leg hold to bring down her opponent and take a couple of points.

Ya produced a successful tackle towards the end, but it would not be enough.

Punjab regained the lead as reigning World Champion Vladimir Khinchegashvili (men's 57kg) maintained his all-win record by defeating Nitin Rathee of Harya 6-1.

The Georgian used the single leg hold to take the lead in the first round.

Although Nitin maged to take one point to reduce the gap to 1-2 at the break, Vladimir displayed superb technique and quickness in the second round to underline his domince.

Geeta Phogat extended Punjab's lead when she shocked the PWL's costliest wrestler Oksa Herhel of Harya 8-6 in the women's 58kg section.

Both wrestlers were evenly matched in a hard fought first round. Geeta maged to take the lead when the Passivity rule was invoked against Oksa for excessive defending. But Oksa fought back to lead 2-1 at the break.

The second round was an exciting affair as the lead changed hands a couple of times. Trailing 6-7 with seconds to go, Geeta stched victory from the jaws of defeat when she stched two points with a leg hold. IANS