Three upset wins in a row helped Mumbai Garuda outsmart Bengaluru Yodhas 5-2 to book a berth in the final of the Pro Wrestling League at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
Mumbai, who fought their last league encounter in Bengaluru the previous night, defied the fatigue factor by fielding five of their wrestlers who had taken the mat against Haryana Hammers on Thursday. Nevertheless, Mumbai snatched the first four bouts to ensure a smooth journey to the final.
Bengaluru, who were informed of its semi-final engagement two hours prior to the encounter, managed to claim two redundant bouts.
Elizbar Odikadze rallied to stun multiple World championship medallist, Oliynik Pavlo, 7-2 in men's 97kg to give Mumbai a bright start.
Odikadze conceded two points, but quickly levelled the scores and managed a 3-2 lead in the first round. The Georgian attacked with more purpose to claim five more points in the following round.
Twenty-one-year-old Ritu Phogat, a World junior silver medallist, fought back from 0-4 down to shock World championship bronze medallist Alyssa Lampe by fall. Interestingly, Ritu had rallied to upset the 27-year-old American in the league stage as well in the women's 48kg bout.
In a men's 125kg contest between two giant grapplers, a lesser-known Giorgi Sakandelidze upset Olympics and World championship medal winner Modzmanashvili Davit 7-4 and Nigerian Odunayo Adekuroye trounced Lalita Sherawat 10-0 in a little over a minute to clinch the issue in Mumbai's favour.
The results (weight categories blocked: men's 57kg, women's 58kg): Men's 97kg: Elizbar Odikadze bt Oliynik Pavlo 7-2, Women's 48kg: Ritu Phogat bt Alyssa Lampe by fall (10-4), Men's 125kg: Giorgi Sakandelidze bt Modzmanashvili Davit 7-4; Women's 53kg: Adekuroye Odunayo bt Lalita Sherawat 10-0, Men's 74kg: Pardeep lost to Narsingh Yadav 0-7, Women's 69kg: Adeline Gray bt Navjot Kaur 10-0, Men's 65kg: Amit Dhankar lost to Bajrang Punia 4-10.
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