In the absence of their World and Olympic Champion Helen Maroulis , Asian championship silver medalist Sumit Malik led the charge as Haryana Hammers piped Mumbai Maharathi 4-3 to book a semi final berth in the Pro Wrestling League at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium ,New Delhi on Saturday.
Before the start of the match, Haryana Hammers suffered a big blow when their icon player Helen Maroulis had to withdraw because of Injury. Her absence made much difference as Haryana Hammers struggled and were tied 3-3 and looked like losing the match.
However in the decider Sumit Malik played with flair and determination to overpower Satender Malik 4-0 and seal a spot for his side in the last four. Down 2-3 and looking at an imminent defeat, Mumbai’s icon player Sakshi Malik kept them alive, thwarting a stiff challenge from Sarita Mor to make it 3-3 .
Sakshi, started off well but Sarita was equal to the task, keeping pace with her. The Olympics bronze medalist, however, showed her skill to eke to out a narrow 5-4 win.
In the fifth bout of the day, World Championship runner-up Khetik Tsabolov underlined his superiority with a comprehensive 16-0 victory over Praveen Dahiya in 74-kg . Khetik was at his dominating best and ran past his opponent within just two minutes to put his team in a strong position.
Earlier Hammers after winning the toss chose to block Satyawart Kadian, while Mumbai used their card to keep Pooja out of action. Russia’s Soslan Ramonov got Mumbai off to a winning start after he picked up a dominating 15-1 victory over Harphool in 65 kg.
The Olympic champion was quick to get off the blocks and raced to a 6-1 lead in the opening period. He continued his attack in the second round as well and strolled his way to an easy victory. Olympics bronze medalist China’s Sun Yanan drew level for Haryana in the next bout after she got past Seema Bisla in 50 kg category.. Sun has been in stellar form in this league and once again asserted her supremacy with a convincing 9-4 win.