Veer Marathas inched closer to a semi-final berth by overpowering Delhi Sultans 5-2 in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) contest at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
Vasilisa Marzaluik, the 2017 World Championship silver medallist, handed the Marathas an impregnable 4-2 lead in the seven-bout tie when she breezed past Egypt's Samar Hamza of Delhi Sultans by pinning her down for a 6-0 win in the women's 76 kilogram category.
Earlier, Commonwealth Championship silver medallist Parveen Rana set up the victory for the Marathas by easily taking down Vinod Omprakash 4-0 in the men's 74 kilogram category.
Rana got off to a flying start as he scored two points in the first round. He survived a late scare though, as Vinod, who replaced injury hit Sushil Kumar, almost tied him down.
In the fourth bout of the day, Marathas' Marwa Amri romped past 2017 Commonwealth Championship silver medallist Sangeeta Phogat in the women's 57kg section to level the tie 2-2.
Marwa pinned Sangeeta down for a comfortable 4-0 win in the first round itself.
Earlier in the day, Veer Marathas won the toss and blocked men's 65kg World Champion Haji Aliev while the Sultans used the opportunity to put Ritu Malik out of action.
In the lung opener, the Sultans got off to a winning start as Sandeep Tomar registered his fourth consecutive win, pinning his compatriot Naveen Kumar.
Sandeep dominated his opponent from the word go and came into his element in the second round when he rolled his opponent and overpowered him.
Veer Marathas' Ritu Phogat promptly restored parity, defeating African Championship gold medallist Maroi Meizen in a lop-sided affair.
Maroi tried to put up a stiff defence but Ritu brought out all the tricks up her sleeve and took an impregnable 14-1 lead at the break. Ritu continued to overshadow her opponent and extended her lead to 17-1 to win on technical superiority.
World Championship bronze medallist Aslan Alborov, however, maintained his unbeaten run in the league to help the Sultans regain the lead by winning the 92kg clash.
In a clash between titans, Alborov narrowly beat Georgi Keteov of Veer Marathas 3-1 to give the Sultans a slight edge. Both the wrestlers began cautiously, waiting for the other to make the big move.
Alborov found an opening as the first period was drawing to a close, rolling his burly opponent to take a 3-0 lead.
Keteov tried to fight back in the second period but just couldn't find a way past Alborov's defence. He managed to pick up a point but that was never going to be enough.
--IANS
ajb/bg
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