Punjab Royals thrash UP Warriors in PWL contest

Ludhia, Dec 13: Punjab Royals outclassed Uttar Pradesh Warriors 6-1 in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) encounter here on Sunday. This was Punjab's first victory in the tourment. They had lost to Mumbai Garudas 2-5 in the opening match of the tourment. The Warriors, who had lost to Bengaluru Yodhas in their campaign opener, remain rooted to the bottom of the PWL table.

This was their second successive 1-6 defeat.

Rajneesh gave Punjab a winning start by defeating the Warriors' Mongolian wrestler Ganzorik Mandakhuran 8-7 in a hard-fought bout of the men's 65kg category. In the women's 69kg category, Punjab's Vasilisa Marzaliuk defeated UP's Ali Stadinik Mahinia 2-1 to increase the hosts' lead.

Vasilisa took a 2-0 lead in the first round. Although Ali maged to take a point in the second round, Vasilisa maged to hold on till the end.

Praveen Ra maintained Punjab's domition by edging UP's Mongolian wrestler Purevjav Unurbat 4-4 in the men's 74kg division. Ra, who has switched to the 74kg category only recently, gave a good account of himself against the 2015 World Championships silver medallist. Purevjav turned the tables in the early seconds of the second round by flipping Ra over to bag four points. The former Asian Games silver medalist was technically and physically superior to his opponent and notched up 10 consecutive points to wrap up the bout in the very first round as Punjab took an ussailable 4-0 lead in the seven-bout contest.

In the women's 58kg event, Punjab's Geeta Phogat overcame a strong second challenge challenge from UP's Sabita to win 3-2. IANS