PWL: Ninjas register thumping debut win over Royals

Jaipur Ninjas began their debut campaign beating NCR Punjab Royals 5-2 in the second tie of the Pro Wrestling League Season 2 at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.

The Ninjas, who won the toss, blocked the 65 kg men’s category. Punjab, led by Rio Olympics gold medalist Vladimir Khinchegashvili, blocked the 48 kg women’s category.

In the first bout, Punjab’s Jitendra and Georgian Jakob Makarashvili had a close initial contest in the 74kg men’s category before the Jaipur grappler staged a comeback to win 12-4.

Teenager Manju Kumari was the next grappler from Punjab, taking on Pooja Dhanda who was penalised for passivity early but came back with more purpose, scoring four points to win the 58 kg women’s bout and give Jaipur a 2-0 lead. The surprise of the evening was the duel between Jaipur’s Utkarsh Kale and Punjab captain Khinchegashvili in the 57 kg men’s category in which the latter had to call on all his experience to prevail by an 8-5 margin for their first point.

Jaipur, however, continued to extend their lead in the match, with 2016 Olympics bronze medallist, Sweden’s Jenny Fransson beating Punjab’s Vasilisa Marzaliuk in a closely fought encounter.

The fifth bout was in the 70 kg men’s category and featured wrestlers Vinod Kumar Omprakash from Jaipur and Pankaj Rana from Punjab which the former won 5-3 to help his team take an unassailable 4-1 lead.

The highlight of the evening was the sixth bout between Jaipur’s Betzabeth Arguello and Punjab’s Odunayo Adekuoroye.

Nigeria-born Odunayo, one of the popular wrestlers from Season 1, dominated the contest and prevailed over Betzabeth by a 16-0 scoreline.

The final bout of the tie was a heavyweight contest in the 97 kg men’s category between Jaipur captain Elizbar Odikadze and Punjab’s Krishan Kumar. Elizbar kept scoring against Krishan and ended winning the bout 12-0.