PWL: Punjab Royals overcomes UP Dangal to reach final

In a repeat of Monday night's round robin clash between the two sides, Royals relied on its depth to emerge as the winner in the exciting best-of nine-bout Pro Wrestling League tie.

Published : Jan 29, 2019 21:38 IST

Mimi Hristova (R) edged out Sarita Mor in the women's 57kg category.

Nitin Rathi and Mimi Hristova rallied to win their respective bouts as Punjab Royals got the better of UP Dangal 5-4 in the semifinals to reach the Pro Wrestling League title clash at the Gautam Buddha University indoor hall here on Tuesday.

In a repeat of Monday night's round robin clash between the two sides, Royals relied on its depth to emerge as the winner in the exciting best-of nine-bout tie.

Royals' Dato Marsagishvili again prevailed over Irakli Misturi 4-2, while Dangal's Vanesa Kaladzinskaya again warded off young Anju's challenge for a 19-6 win.

Bajrang Punia dropped two points before taming Pankaj Rana 6-2 and record Royals' second win.

Anita upset Asian champion Navjot Kaur 8-4 for second successive time to widen Royals' lead.

Anita performed a quick take down and flip to erase a four-point deficit and scored a four-pointer with 14 seconds to go. Navjot hurt her left leg badly and was stretchered off as the bout could not be completed.

Georgi Sakandelidze's 2-1 victory over Korey Jarvis made it 2-3 for Dangal and Epp Mae's 2-0 win over Cynthia Vescan levelled the scores.

Rathi beat Amit on the basis of scoring the last point in the 2-2 deadlock and swung the tie in Royals' favour.

Mimi made a sensational comeback in the final minute to edge out Sarita Mor 5-2 and seal Royals' berth in the final.

The result (semifinals)

Punjab Royals bt UP Dangal 5-4 (M86kg: Dato Marsagishvili bt Irakli Misturi 4-2; W53kg: Anju lost to Vanesa Kaladzinskaya 6-19; M65kg: Bajrang Punia bt Pankaj Rana 6-2; W62kg: Anita bt Navjot Kaur 8-4; M125kg: Korey Jarvis lost to Georgi Sakandelidze 1-2; W76kg: Cynthia Vescan lost to Epp Mae 0-2; M57kg: Nitin Rathi bt Amit 2-2; W57kg: Mimi Hristova bt Sarita Mor 5-2; M74kg: Amit Dhanker lost to Jitender 0-5)