Pro Wrestling League: Haryana Hammers edge past UP Dangal to set up summit clash against Punjab Royals

New Delhi: Haryana Hammers defeated UP Dangal 5-4 in a key contest to set up a mouth-watering clash against Punjab Royals in the final of the Pro Wrestling League on Thursday. The Chinese Rio Olympic medalist, Sun Yanan won the ninth and deciding bout, her third straight victory over Vinesh Phogat to throw UP Dangal out of the competition. She won 4-1 in a tense and bitter semifinal that ended in tears. [caption id=“attachment_4320953” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Haryana Hammers’ Helen Maroulis takes down UP Dangals’ Vanesa Kaladzinskaya by 5-4. PWL[/caption] The Hammers will seek revenge against the Royals, after losing the title to the same team in PWL 2. The tie was a close affair, with the two teams giving it their all and taking it all the way to the wire. The Hammers jumped into an early lead, with Rio Olympic gold medallist Vladimir winning the 57kg men’s opening bout. He was stunned in the first period though, with Nitin Rathi taking the first point. Vladimir, however, turned Nitin over to snatch five points in the second round. He still had to be on his guard as Nitin looked for points with his aggression.The Georigian eventually won 6-3. Zsanett Nemeth, however, promptly restored parity for Dangal by notching a hard-fought 3-1 win over 2017 Commonwealth Championship silver medalist Pooja Sihag in the 76kg women’s category. Zsanett raced to a 3-0 lead in the first round itself and decided to defend in the next to hold on to her lead. World Championship silver medalist Khetik Tsabolov then pulled off a sensational victory over Bekzod Abdurakhmonov to put the Dangals in the lead. It was a fascinating 74kg tussle that had the crowds on their feet. Uzbekistan’s Bekzod took an early 2-0 lead but his attempt to pin Khetik backfired, and he ended up conceding six points. Khetik took advantage of the change in fortunes to add two more points to take a healthy 8-2 lead. Bekzod tried to fight back but he gave away too much ground to force a recovery. Reigning World Championship leader Helen Maroulis then scored a fine victory to take the Hammers to a 3-1 lead. Helen beat Vanesa Kaldzinskaya 5-4. Rio Olympic gold medallist Jamaladdin Magomedov and local star Geeta Phogat won the next two bouts to level the tie 3-3 for Dangal. Jamaladdin easily overcame India’s national champion Sumit Malik 7-0 in the 125kg clash while Geeta had to ward off a desperate attempt from compatriot Sarita Mor. In a battle between Indians, Roublejit Singh Rangi got the better of Mandeep to put the Hammers back in the lead. Dangal stormed right back into the tie, with Bajrang Punia downing a valiant Harphool Gulia 5-3.