PWL: Epp Mae, Sarita help U.P. Dangal register maiden win

Epp Mae sealed a 4-3 win for U.P. Dangal which dented the semis chances for Mumbai Maharathi.

Vinesh Phogat of Mumbai Maharathi faces off against Vanesa of U.P Dangal.

Epp Mae held on to a late onslaught by 2017 world championships silver medalist Zseneth Nemeth to register a 5-3 win in the 76kg category and give U.P. Dangal its first win in the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) Season 4, at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium in Ludhiana, on Monday.

U.P. Dangal defeated Mumbai Maharathi 4-3 thereby massively denting the Vinesh Phogat-led team’s chances of making it to the semis.

Asian championships silver medallist Georgi Sakandelidze put U.P 3-2 ahead by beating European champion Baitseev Vladislav of Mumbai 2-1 in the 125kg superheavyweight bout. After that it was left to Mae to consolidate the lead and she did it in style defeating the experienced Zseneth in a closely-fought encounter. National champion Harphool won the last bout of the day defeating Pankaj Rana 15-6 in the men’s 65kg category bout reducing U.P’s victory margin to 4-3.

Read: Bajrang wins deciding bout to guide Punjab to first win of PWL - 4

Earlier, the current national championships gold medallist Jitender gave U.P. Dangal a head start beating Mumbai Maharathi’s junior national champion Sachin Rathi 14-0 in the 74kg bout completely dominated by the senior wrestler.

Epp Mae of U.P Dangal against Zseneth Nemeth of Mumbai Maharathi.

 

2017 Asian Championships silver medallist Sarita Mor caused a major upset by beating 2018 Pan American Championships bronze medallist Betzabeth Angelica 6-1 in the women’s 57kg category. Sarita's victory put U.P Dangal 2-0 ahead in the tie.

Deepak Punia brought Mumbai Maharathi back into the contest by upsetting the Georgia's Irakli Misituri 3-2 to make it 1-2 after three bouts. The 2018 Junior World Championships silver medallist showed excellent skills to get the better of Irakli in a low-scoring match where the U.P wrestler was leading 1-0 at the break.

Mumbai Maharathi’s best bet, gold medallist at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games Vinesh Phogat had to withstand a tremendous challenge from 2017 world champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya to finally prevail 5-3 in the women’s 53kg category. This win helped Mumbai tie the over all score at 2-2 after four bouts. But it wasn’t enough U.P came back to score a memorable win.

Results

74kg Men: Sachin Rathi (Mumbai Maharathi) lost to Jitender (UP Dangal) 57kg Women: Betzabeth Angelica (Mumbai Maharathi) lost to Sarita (UP Dangal) 86kg Men: Deepak Punia (Mumbai Maharathi) bt Irakli Misituri (UP Dangal) 53kg Women: Vinesh Phogat (Mumbai Maharathi) bt Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (UP Dangal) 125kg Men: Baitseev Vladislav (Mumbai Maharathi) lost to Georgi Sakandelidze (UP Dangal) 76kg Women: Zseneth Nemeth (Mumbai Maharathi)  lost to Epp Mae (UP Dangal) 65kg Men: Harphool (Mumbai Maharathi) beat Pankaj Rana (UP Dangal).