PWL: Mumbai beat Bengaluru to take second consecutive win

Mumbai Garudas claimed their second victory on the trot outmuscling Bengaluru Yodhas 5-2 in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) match at the Guru Nanak Stadium here on Monday.

Mumbai, who had defeated Punjab Royals by a similar margin in the opening match of the tournament, thus continued their reign at the top of the PWL table.

Bengaluru tasted their first defeat. They had outclassed Uttar Pradesh Warriors 6-1 in their first match.

Monday's clash was expected to a high voltage battle between two teams who are regarded as among the favourites for the inaugural PWL title.

But the Garudas proved to be the superior outfit on the day.

The two Georgian giants -- Levan Berianidze for Mumbai and Bengaluru's Davit Modzmanashvili -- faced each other in the men's 125kg division.

The 25-year-old Levan kicked off the proceeding in style by defeating his illustrious compatriot 4-1.

Davit was clearly the stronger of the two in the first round and took a 1-0 lead by the break.

But Levan made a superb comeback against the 2012 London Olympics silver medallist in the second round to chalk up a well-deserved victory.

The promising Rahul Aware doubled Mumbai's advantage by defeating Bengaluru's Sandeep Tomar 5-0 in the Men's 57kg category.

Up by a 1-0 margin at the break, Aware had a hard time fighting off a spirited challenge from the 2014 World Military Games champion in the second round before picking up four points right at the end with a superb move.

Odunayo Adekuoroye hardly broke sweat as she outclassed Bengaluru's Lalita Sherawat by technical superiority (10-0) in the very first round of the Women's 53kg section to make it 3-0 for Mumbai.

Ritu Phogat (Women's 48kg) handed Mumbai an unassailable 4-0 lead by outwrestling the Yodha's Alyssa Lampe by fall.

The Garudas' icon player Adeline Gray extended her team's lead to 5-0 by outclassing Bengaluru's Navjot Kaur by technical superiority (10-0) in the women' 69kg category.

Bengaluru notched up back to back win in the last two bouts as their icon player Narsingh Pancham Yadav (men's 74kg) and Bajrang Punia (men's 65kg) got the better of their respective opponents.

Narsingh was up against Mumbai's Pardeep and won by a comfortable 6-0 margin.

The 2015 World Championships bronze medallist opened up a comfortable 4-0 lead in the first round and maintained his domination in the second period.

Bajrang on the other hand, was up against a more experienced and strong opponent in 2013 Asian Championships gold medallist Amit Dhankar.

Bajrang took the early lead by pushing Amit out of the playing circle. But the former Asian champion managed to level the scores at 1-1 by the break.

Bajrang regained the lead by taking a couple of points at the start of the second round.

Although Amit managed to pick up one point by forcing Bajrang out of the playing zone, the 2013 World Championships bronze medallist displayed superior technique towards end to take a well-deserved win.