Mumbai Maharathi continued with their winning form as they recorded an authoritative 4-3 win against Jaipur Ninjas in a league match of the of the 2nd Pro Wrestling League (PWL) at the KD Jadhav Stadium here on Monday.
This was the second win for Mumbai who have now has 4 points from as many games and climb to the second position behind leader Ninjas who suffered their first defeat in three games.
Skipper Erica Wiebe, Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan and Indian stars Vikas and Rahul Aware won their respective fights to secure Mumbai victory.
The Mumbai captain was all praise for her teammates. “We had two tough matches and this is a very important win for us. I was impressed with the way we fought, we are fighters and we will continue to fight hard and well. I too was inspired by the performances of my players,” said an excited Erica, who so far has won all her bouts.
Mumbai Maharathi were provided with the perfect start when Jabrayil Hasanov of Azerbaijan a bronze medal winner at the 2016 Olympics did well to defeat Ninjas Jakob Makarashvili 3-1 in the men’s 74kg category, the opening bout of the evening.
The Mumbai side lost the second fight when their Colombian fighter Carolina Castillo Hidalgo was beaten 1-4 by Ritu Phogat, who won the gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Wresting Champions, in the women’s 48 kg match.
Later Vikas ensured Mumbai regained the lead by clinching tight victory in the closely contested and exciting third bout in the 65kg category. Vikas, a silver medal winner at the 2016 Junior Asian Championship, trailed 2-4 in the first round, but put up a strong performance in the second which he won 4-2 to level scores at 6-all. But, Vikas was declared winner as he had won the last point.
Once again Mumbai lost the momentum as Lalita Sehrawat proved no match for Ninjas Venezuelan wrestler Betzabeth Arguello, who powered to a 5-2 victory and put her team on level terms at 2-2.
Former National champion Rahul Aware put Mumbai in front for third time in the match when he outplayed Utkarsh Kale of Jaipur Ninjas 9-6 in the men’s 57kg bout. Later, in the women’s 75kg fight, Mumbai captain Erica Wiebe of Canada, the Rio games gold medalist after initial struggle won the 6th bout after Jenny Fransson a bronze medalist at Rio conceded due to an injury in the second round to give Mumbai an unassailable 4-2 lead.
Nijans earned a consolation victory when Georgian Elizbar Odikadze defeated Pavlo Oliynik of Ukraine 3-2 in the men’s 97kg fight.