Riding on former national champion Nitin’s scintillating performance UP Dangal chalked out a thrilling 4-3 win over Punjab Royals in the Pro Wrestling League at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium, in New Delhi on Thursday.
The teams were tied 3-3 in the tie and in the decider which turned out to be an edge of the seat affair Nitin staged a stunning comeback as he overpowered national champion Utkarsh Kale after going down in the opening period to win the bout 8-7.
Utkarsh, a slight favorite in the contest did well to win the opening period 2-0.
However, he could not counter Nitin’s attack in the final round to go down by a narrow margin. With Punjab trailing 2-3, Koumba Selene Fanta Larroque ( France) showed great character under pressure to clinch a 4-0 victory over Zsanett Nemeth ( Hungary) in the 76 kg women’s category to send the seven contest duel into the decider.
In the battle of equals, World Champion Geno dished out a spectacular performance against Azerbaijan’s Jamaladdin Magomedov in the 125 kg category. Both the wrestlers were at their defensive best in the opening round with the Punjab wrestler faring a little better to take a one point lead.
In the second period, he scored a three pointer to increase the lead to 4-0. Jamaladdin made a late surge and reduced the gap to one point but the Geno hung and sealed the bout to keep Punjab afloat in the tie.
Earlier in the day, Dangal won the toss and blocked European championships gold medalist Bekbulatov Ilyas ( Russia) from competing, while Punjab kept World Champion Vanesa Kaladzinskaya ( Belarus) out of action.
Leading 2-1 in the tie, the fourth bout was very crucial for UP as a win here would put them in the driving seat. And their captain Vinesh Phoghat pounced on the opportunity to register a convincing 16-0 victory through technical superiority over Nirmala Devi in the 50 kg competition to keep.
Punjab went further down in the tie after an unfortunate injury saw Mausam Khatri retire mid-way and concede the bout against Vicky even though he was leading 4-2 in the 92 kg category.