Pro Wrestling League 2 auctions: Olympic gold medallist Vladimer Khinchegashvili emerges as costliest buy

New Delhi: Young Indian grappler Bajrang Punia was on Friday signed for Rs 38 lakh by Delhi, while Rio Olympic gold medallist Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia emerged as the costliest buy of PWL-2 Auctions after being snapped up by Punjab for a whopping Rs 48 lakh. London Olympic gold medallist Togrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan was bought for Rs 35 lakh by Punjab. [caption id=“attachment_3160062” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia. Getty[/caption] Over 200 wrestlers were put up for bidding among six franchises in the second season of Pro Wrestling League player auction held in the city on Friday. Renowned auctioneer Bob Hayton began the proceedings as he briefed about the bidding rules to all the franchisee owners. What followed next was a test of business skills and an intense session among the franchises to pick the players of their choice. Former and current World Champions and Olympians created a lot of buzz in the auction with franchises not holding back to spend that extra buck. Six teams from Mumbai, Punjab, UP, Delhi, Haryana and Jaipur bid to ensure they had competitive squads going into the 2016-17 tournament. All teams were given a purse of Rs 2 crore to form a nine-member squad that includes five men and four women, five Indian and four international wrestlers. Among the players available in the closed bid were Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and Marwa Amri, Rio Olympics gold winners Erica Wiebe and Khinchegashvili, who also clinched a silver at the London Games in 2012.