Bengaluru Yodhas enjoyed a rocking start to their campaign in the inaugural edition of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) with a rather one-sided 6-1 thrashing of Uttar Pradesh Warriors at the K.D. Yadav Wrestling Stadium here on Friday.
Sandeep Tomar handed Bengaluru the early lead when he easily outclassed Sergey Ratushniy 4-2 in the men's 57kg bout.
Tomar was both technically and physically superior to his Ukrainian opponent. Sergey found it next to impossible to penetrate his defence while the Indian kept his opponent under continuos pressure with quick attacking moves.
Tomar took two points right at the start of the bout before consolidating with a further two thanks to a leg hold.
Sergey managed to bag a couple of points in the second round, but the Indian's superior defence ensured that he did not concede any more.
The men's 65kg bout was up next and the promising Bajrang Punia doubled Bengaluru's lead by defeating the experienced Rahul Mann.
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Bajrang opened up a comfortable 3-0 lead in the first round. Mann took a couple of points early in the second round, but Bajrang soon hit back with a swift takedown. The Haryana lad effected another couple of takedowns to win by a thumping 10-2 margin.
Alyssa Lampe (women's 48kg) made it 3-0 for Bengaluru with a stunning 5-4 win over Ukrainian Kogut Oleksandra.
Pavlo Olynik then ensured a unassailable 4-0 lead in the seven-bout contest for Bengaluru when he edged out a spirited Satyavrat Kadian 2-1 in the men's 97kg category.
Pavlo, a bronze medallist at the World Championships earlier this year, took a 2-0 lead in the first round. Kadian put up a much better fight in the second round. But he was thwarted by Pavlo's superior technique for much of the round before managing to pick up a point towards the end.
With seconds remaining in the bout, Kadian attempted a leg hold but was denied by Pavlo's strong defence.
Babita Kumari pulled one back for the Warriors with a 8-2 win over Bengaluru's Lalita Sherawat in the women's 53kg category.
However, the Yodhas hit back in the very next bout as Yuliya Ratkevich defeatead Ritu Malik 4-1 in the women's 48kg event.
The men's 74kg was the last bout of the day where Bengaluru's Narsingh Yadav faced Purvejav Unurbat. Narsingh had lost to Unurbat in the World Championships earlier this year and he avenged that loss with a 9-1 rout of the Mongolian on Friday as the Yodhas ended the contest in style.