Mumbai Garuda remained unbeaten in the league stage with a 4-3 victory over Haryana Hammers in their last round robin match to top the table in the Pro Wrestling League here today.
Mumbai Garuda rode on brilliant performances by captain Adeline Gray, Giorgi Sakandelidze and Ritu Phogat besides others to win their fifth match in as many outings and maintain their unbeaten record in the tournament.
Mumbai Garuda took an early 1-0 lead as Rahul Aware bagged the opening bout 7-2 over Nitin Kumar of Haryana Hammers in men's 57kg.
Having taken a slight 1-0 lead in the first round, Aware managed to earn six more points in the second round to post an easy win.
In the absence of Yogeshwar Dutt, who got injured just before the match today, Oksana Herhel captained the Haryana side and led from the front with a 4-2 win over Mumbai's Sakshi Malik in women's 58kg.
The World Championship gold medallist ended round one with a 4-0 lead but in the second round she failed to bag any more points. Sakshi, on the other hand, gained two points in the second mainly due to the two cautions issued to Oksana.
In the end, the costliest buy of the tournament, Oksana managed to maintain a slender edge and helped her team tie the scores 1-1.
In men's 74kg, Livan Lopez Azcuy then gave Haryana Hammers an upper hand with an 11-0 win by technical superiority over Pardeep of Mumbai Garuda.
Azcuy earned four points at a go by putting down his rival on the mat from a standing position to lead 4-0 after the opening round. In the next round also, the wrestler from Cuba once more gained four consecutive points by downing the Indian in a similar fashion.
Azcuy bagged another three points to finish off the bout in just four minutes and 48 seconds. However, the scores were yet again tied 2-2 with Mumbai's icon player and captain Adeline Gray winning her bout 7-1 against Geetika Jakhar of Haryana Hammers in women's 69kg.
