New Delhi: Jaipur Ninjas, today, beat Colors Delhi Sultans 4-3 on an action-packed Day 5 of the Patanjali Powervita Pro Wrestling League Season 2 at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium.
The Bouts
Starting off the day, Jaipur won the toss and blocked the 65 kg Men’s category, thus making Delhi’s prized catch Bajrang Punia sit out for the tie, while Delhi decided to block the 53 kg Women’s category in return.
Coming off with an inspiring start as Jaipur Ninjas’ Captain Elizbar Odikadze crushed Satyavart Kadian from Colors Delhi Sultans 8-0 in the 97 kg Men’s category. The Georgian Elizbar employed power-packed maneuvres to get a stranglehold on Satyavart, eventually flipping him over and scoring points in a comprehensive fashion. The 2014 Commonwealth Games Silver medalist Satyavart couldn’t do much against the pressure created by Odikadze.
The Delhi team, though, found redemption in the second bout as Mariya Stadnik proved too powerful for Jaipur’s Ritu Phogat. The three time Olympic Medalist used her attacking moves cleverly, taking down Ritu and flipping her over, scoring points rapidly. Ritu, who is the most expensive Indian female wrestler in the competition, was left stunned in front of the experience of Stadnik as the bout went in Delhi’s favour 16-0. Mariya Stadnik won by virtue of Technical Superiority in the 48 kg Women’s category
In the third bout of the day Delhi’s Parveen Rana and Jaipur’s Jakob Makarashvili wrestled in the 74 kg Men’s category. The fight though couldn’t change the match results but the Georgian wrestler stamped his authority in the end and won with a 10-7 points margin.
In the fourth bout of the day, the PWL debutants Jaipur Ninjas continued their impressive show thanks to a clinical 5-0 victory by 2016 Olympics Bronze medalist Jenny Fransson over Alina Makhynia from Colors Delhi Sultans in the 75 kg Women’s category. Swedish grappler Fransson gave no chances to her opponent in the bout, employing a diverse range of attacking tackles to take down Alina, who blanked out by the end of the second round. Jenny Fransson’s victory gave Jaipur a 3-1 lead in the tie.
Jaipur did not allow Delhi to make a comeback in the tie, winning the fifth bout 2-0 courtesy a spirited fight from Vinod Kumar Omprakash against Delhi’s David Tlashadze in the 70 kg Men’s category. Vinod was clever in his attacking moves and was backed by a superior defence as he managed to score a crucial point in the final moments of the bout to clinch a hard-fought win. As a result of this, Jaipur gained an unassailable 4-1 lead in the tie.
Delhi Sultans had high hopes on their captain and star player Sakshi Malik and the ace grappler was onto the expectations winning 16-0 by Technical superiority against Pooja Dhanda. Sakshi was playing in her first professional match after the 2016 Olympics where she won Bronze; and she made the most of the opportunities as she outclassed Pooja with breathtaking tackles, powerful take downs, and dominating flip-overs in the 58 kg Women’s category.
After Sakshi’s victory, Mongolian Erdenebat Bekhbayar overcame a tough fight from Jaipur’s Utkarsh Kale to win 2-1 in the final bout of the evening. The final two rounds of the tie was an absorbing tussle as both wrestlers look to score points quickly. Kale, who had earlier put up a brave fight against NCR Punjab Royals’ Vladimir Khinchegashvili, proved his mettle on the mat again, even as he went down against Bekhbayar. Jaipur Ninjas won the tie with a 4-3 margin.
Post Match statements
Speaking post her victory, Delhi’s Sakshi Malik said: “Very happy with my performance. I was prepared and confident about my bout today and Olympics has also helped boost my confidence. In fact, I was eagerly waiting for my match. I wasn’t liking being away from the mat for so long. Our team will surely perform better in the upcoming matches.”
While Jaipur’s Vinod Kumar Omprakash, on defeating an international wrestler, was upbeat. He said, “I was very confident as my preparation has been very good. I am prepared for all my further matches,” he said.
Jaipur’s Jenny Fransson, while speaking about her win, said, “Now I’m back in the game!”
Ritu Phogat, on losing by a big margin against Mariya Stadnik, said, “It wasn’t my day today!”