PWL: Veer Marathas beat Sultans, inch closer to semifinals

New Delhi [India], Jan 21 (ANI): Vasilisa Marzaluik helped Veer Marathas inch closer to a semifinal berth, sealing her team's victory in the sixth bout of the night in the Pro Wrestling League, here at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

The 2017 World Championship silver medalist, Vasilisa, breezed past Egypt's Samar Hamza of Delhi Sultans by pinning her down for a 6-0 win and an impregnable 4-2 lead in the tie.

Commonwealth Championship silver medalist Parveen Rana set up the victory for the Marathas before her by easily taking down Vinod Omprakash in the 74-kg category.

Rana got off to a flying start as he scored two points in the first round. He survived a late scare though, as Vinod, who replaced injury-hit Sushil Kumar, almost tied him down.

However, he finished with a comprehensive 4-0 victory to give his side a 3-2 lead.

In the fourth bout of the day, down 1-2 in the tie, Marathas' Marwa Amri (57-kg) romped past the 2017 Commonwealth Championship silver medalist, Sangeeta Phogat to level the tie. Marwa pinned Sangeeta down for a comfortable 4-0 win in the first round itself.

Earlier in the day, Veer Marathas won the toss and blocked World Champion Haji Aliev (65-kg) while the Sultans used the opportunity to put Ritu Malik out of action.

In the opening bout, the Sultans got off to a winning start as Sandeep Tomar registered his fourth consecutive win, pinning his compatriot Naveen Kumar.

Sandeep dominated his opponent right from the beginning and overpowered him with his might easily.

Veer Marathas' Ritu Phogat promptly restored parity, defeating African Championship gold medalist Maroi Meizen in a lop-sided affair.

Maroi tried to put up a stiff defence but Ritu brought out all the tricks up her sleeve and took an impregnable 14-1 lead at the break. Ritu continued to overshadow her opponent and extended her lead to 17-1 to win on technical superiority.

World Championship bronze medalist Aslan Alborov, however, maintained his unbeaten run in the league to help the Sultans regain the lead by winning the 92 kg clash.

Alborov narrowly beat Georgi Keteov of Veer Marathas 3-1 to give the Sultans a slight edge. Both wrestlers began cautiously, waiting for the other to make the big move.

Alborov found an opening as the first period was drawing to a close, rolling his burly opponent to take a 3-0 lead. Keteov tried to fight back in the second period but just couldn't find a way past Alborov's defences and managed to pick up just one point. (ANI)