Pro Wrestling League 2019: Rajneesh shines as Haryana Hammers beat Delhi Sultans to enter tournament final

Greater Noida: In a repeat of last season, Haryana Hammers will take on Punjab Royals in the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) final following their 6-3 win over Delhi Sultans on Wednesday.

Local boy Rajneesh clinched the men’s 65kg category bout against Andrey Kviatkovski of Ukraine 9-3 to give the last year’s finalists an unbeatable 5-2 lead over Delhi Sultans with two bouts remaining.

Rajneesh hit the final nail in Delhi’s coffin after Ravi Kumar, Kiran, Anastasia Nichita and Aleksander Khotsianivski won four of the six bouts played.

Ali Shabanov added one more win in Haryana’s kitty when he got the better of Sanjeet Kundu 5-0 in the men’s 86kg category after Sakshi Malik pulled one back for the Delhi Sultans beating Tatyana Omelchenko 6-2 in women’s 62kg category.

Earlier, World U23 Championships silver medallist Ravi Kumar put the Haryana Hammers ahead winning the men’s 57kg bout against Pankaj 7-1 which included a beautiful four-point takedown in the first round.

The 2018 CWG bronze medallist Kiran, showing tactical superiority, made it 2-0 in Haryana’s favour defeating the 2018 European U23 champion Anastasia Shustova of Ukraine 6-1 in the women’s 76kg category.

The Russian national champion Khetik Tsabolov made it 1-2 for Delhi Sultans defeating Haryana Hammers’ 2017 Commonwealth Championships silver medallist Praveen Rana 9-0 in the men’s 74kg category.

The world junior champion Anastasia Nichita of Moldova gave Haryana Hammers a healthy 3-1 lead, getting the better of Delhi Sultans’ Katherina Zhydachivska 11-2 in what turned out to be a one-sided encounter in the women’s 57kg category.

Aleksander Khotsianivski took the Hammers one more step closer to winning the tie by clinching the men’s 125kg superheavyweight bout against Satender Malik of Delhi on technical superiority. Aleksander won the bout 16-0 in 51 seconds.

National champion Pinki of Delhi delayed the inevitable by winning the women’s 53kg bout against Haryana’s 2017 Commonwealth Championships gold medallist Seema 3-1.