PWL: Amit Dhanker steers Punjab Royals to victory

Amit Dhanker pipped Parveen Rana 4-2 in the deciding nail-biting men's 74kg bout as Punjab Royals defeated Haryana Hammers 4-3 in the Pro Wrestling League at the Gautam Buddha University indoor hall here on Saturday.

As the PWL celebrated Republic Day by playing a video in which the foreign athletes, dressed in traditional Indian costume, sang the National anthem, Dhanker snatched two points in the closing moments to spread joy in Royals camp.

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World under-23 championships silver medallist Ravi Kumar continued his unbeaten impressive run to defeat Nitin Rathi 9-2 in the men's 57kg class and give Hammers the lead.

Olympian Cynthia Vescan overcame a strong challenge from the burly Kiran to secure a 4-3 victory in the women's 76kg duel.

Bajrang Punia got the better of an equally experienced Rajneesh in a good contest. Bajrang picked up two points in about 30 seconds.  Bajrang's slip-up in the execution of a leg attack saw Rajneesh counter-attack to level the scores in the second round.

However, Bajrang restored his lead through a takedown and won the men's 65kg battle to put Royals ahead.

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World junior champion Anastasia Nichita of Moldova thrashed Bulgarian Mimi Hritsova to make it 2-2. Olympic medallist Dato Magarishvili spectacularly beat World championships medal winner Ali Shabanov 7-4 to give Royals an edge.

Seema defeated Anju 8-2 in women's 53kg as the tie was decided in the last match.