PWL 2018: Haryana Hammers Defeat Uttar Pradesh Dangal; Enters Final, to Clash With Punjab Royals for Title

New Delhi, Jan 26: Haryana Hammers' Sun Yanan won the ninth and deciding bout of the third edition of the Pro Wrestling League at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday, to set up an explosive repeat final against Punjab Royals.

The Chinese Rio Olympic medalist scored her third straight victory over Vinesh Phogat to throw Uttar Pradesh Dangal out of the competition. She won 4-1 in a tense and bitter semifinal that ended in tears.

The Hammers will seek revenge against the Royals, after losing the title to the same team in the last season. The tie was a close affair, with the two teams giving it their all and taking it all the way to the wire, with Haryana winning the tie 5-4.

The Hammers jumped into an early lead, with Rio Olympic gold medallist, Vladimir winning the 57-kg men's opening bout. He was stunned in the first period though, with Nitin Rathi taking the first point. Vladimir, however, turned Nitin over to snatch five points in the second round. He still had to be on his guard as Nitin looked for points with his aggression. The Georgian eventually won 6-3.

Zsanett Nemeth, however, promptly restored parity for Dangal by notching a hard-fought 3-1 win over 2017 Commonwealth Championship silver medalist Pooja Sihag in the 76-kg women's category.

World Championship silver medalist Khetik Tsabolov then pulled off a sensational victory over Uzbekistan's Bekzod Abdurakhmonov to put the Dangals in the lead. It was a fascinating 74-kg tussle that had the crowds on their feet.

Bekzod took an early 2-0 lead but his attempt to pin Khetik backfired, and he ended up conceding 6 points. Khetik took advantage of the change in fortunes to add two more points to take a healthy 8-2 lead. The Uzbek wrestler tried to fight back, but he had yielded too much ground to force a recovery.

Reigning World Championship leader Helen Maroulis then scored a fine victory to take the Hammers to a 3-1 ahead. Helen beat Vanesa Kaldzinskaya 5-4, although the match was not as close as the final score suggests.

Maroulis was comfortably ahead 3-0 after the first period and was 5-2 up till the last minute. Vanesa managed to push her off the mat just after regulation time to reduce the margin.

Rio Olympic gold medallist Jamaladdin Magomedov and local star Geeta Phogat won the next two bouts to level the tie 3-3 for Dangal.

Jamaladdin easily overcame India's national champion Sumit Malik 7-0 in the 125-kg clash, while Geeta Phogat had to ward off a desperate attempt from compatriot Sarita Mor. Geeta took an early 1-0 lead and then made it 3-0 by the break. She decided to go on the defensive which could have ended in disaster for her. Sarita managed two points and could have turned it into an upset if she had scored one more point.

In a battle between Indians, Roublejit Singh Rangi got the better of Mandeep to put the Hammers back in the lead. Roublejit took a 1-point advantage into the break and made it 5-3 for a well-deserved victory.

Dangal stormed right back into the tie, with Bajrang Punia downing a valiant Harphool Gulia 5-3. Harphool started on the front foot, but Bajrang quickly made it 4-1 before winning 8-1.