New Delhi , December 12 : Egged on marquee wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s stellar performance against World Championships silver medallist Navruzov Ikhtiyor of Dilli Veer, Haryana Hammers won 5-2 (won five bouts and lost two) at the Pro Wrestling League in away leg here on Saturday.
Other than Yogeshwar, Livan Lopez Azcuy (74kg), world champion Oksana Herhel (58kg), Hitender (125kg) and Geetika JJakhar (69kg) shot Haryana into convincing victory.
When Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar came to contest 65kg-category bout, Haryana had already taken the day’s honours, but his mere entry into the arena sparked cheering from sparse crowd.
What made the bout a special occasion for Yogeshwar was the presence of her mother Sushila for the first time during his bout. Her son made her trip valuable with the victory.
In the last bout of the day, Yogeshwar started off on an aggressive note. The opponent, being a seasoned pro, negotiated the attack well, but it was Yogeshwar, who got a point on his opponent’s foul and led the round 1-0.
In the second round, Yogeshwar continued his attacking mode and added two more points. With a 3-0 lead, Yogeshway switched to defence. It gave Ikhtiyor an opportunity to earn a point in dying moments, but it was too late to make a comeback as the Indian emerged triumphant.
Earlier, Haryana’s Cuban Olympic and former world championships medallist Livan Lopez Azcuy gave his team a winning start when he blanked Dilli’s Dinesh Kumar 7-0 in a lop-sided 74kg-category bout.
But Dilli’s Gurpal Singh (97kg) snatched momentum from Haryana, thrashing Argentinian Yuri Maier, who has also represented his country in two Kabaddi World Cups, 11-0.
It was now turn for Haryana’s Ukrainian world champion Oksana Herhel to justify her highest price tag in the league. She fought up to her reputation as she routed Dilli’s Yesilirmak Elif Jale 6-1 by fall.
Haryana’s Hitender consolidated his team’s position when he edged past Krishan Kumar 7-4.
Haryana’s 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Geetika Jakhar sealed the tie in her team’s favour when she beat Dilli’s Nikki 2-2. Geetika won on the basis of a better technical point (means Nikki’s both points were scored after Geetika was warned while the latter scored the point on technical basis).
Vinesh Phogat, a 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, salvage some pride for Dilli when she showed the door to Nirmala Devi with a 10-0 routing, but Yogehswar guided Haryana to end on a winning note.