Consider MMA fighters also for national sports awards: Ritu Phogat
She defeated China's World No. 2 Meng Bo, who was on a seven-match undefeated streak
In a battle between sisters, Vinesh Phogat justified her icon status as she humbled sister Ritu Phogat, to enable UP Dangal edge past Veer Marathas 4-3 in the Pro Wrestling League at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium , New Delhi on Friday.
With this defeat Veer Marathas,playing for the first time in the league,are virtually out of contention while UP Dangal continue their unbeaten run in the tournament. In the fourth bout of the day, Vinesh played with great determination to overcome a stiff challenge from her elder Ritu Phogat 4-0 in the 50-kg category to make it 3-1 for UP Dangal. This was Vinesh’s fourth successive victory in the tournament.
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Earlier another Phogat sister ,Commonwealth champion Geeta, made it 2-0 for Dangal, beating national champion Ritu Malik 5-0 in the 62-kg event. The win not only gave UP a huge itiative early in the duel but also saw Geeta record her first win in this year’s edition.
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Commonwealth Champion Bajrang then sealed the tie for his side thrashing Amit Dhankar 7-2 in the 65-kg category. Veer Marathas won the toss and blocked Uzbekistan’s Bekzod Abdurakhmonov while UP Dangal opted to keep Marwa Amri out of the equation.
In the first bout UP Dangal’s Nithin Rathi, made a great comeback to register a 7-4 victory over Shravan Kumar in the 57-kg to help log the first point for his side.
Shravan started off well and took a 3-0 lead in the opening period. The national championship runner-up, however, showed great determination to turn the tide and come out victorious.
For Marathas the three foreigners recorded the wins to narrow the gap. Armenian Georgi Keteov brought the Marathas back into tie with a dominating 16-0 win through technical superiority over Vicky Chahar in the 92-kg competition.
The World Championship bronze medalist grappled with great intent and did not allow his opponent any chance as he wrapped up the contest within three minutes. Vasilisa Marzaliuk beat Zsanett Nemeth while Levan Berianidze beat Jamaladdin Magomedov
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