NEW DELHI: With just a few games left for the playoffs in the inaugural edition of the Pro Panja League, Kiraak Hyderabad and Kochi KD's picked up crucial wins over Rohtak Rowdies and Mumbai Muscle, respectively at the IGI Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, to shift the momentum in the points table. With 119 points, Mumbai Muscle managed to hold the top position by the end of day's day, despite the defeat.
In the first match, Aakriti Kandari and Sulemon gave Rohtak Rowdies a 2-1 lead over Kiraak Hyderabad with wins in the Undercard. Kiraak's Dheeraj Singh faced Rohtak's Aryan Kandari in 80kg bout in the main card. The mental tenacity of the two competitors was tested with plenty of stoppages due to fouls and reviews. But Dheeraj maintained his composure to get a 2-0 lead, and then activated a Challenger Round. With a 3-second pin, Dheeraj won the bout 10-0.
Star player from Rohtak Sanjay Deswal took revenge straightaway, activating Challenger Round against Ujjwal Agrawal in the 100kg bout, and earned a 10-0 win for Rohtak. Finally, Kiraak's unbeaten star Madhura KN faced her toughest opponent in Rohtak's Ribasuk Lyngdoh Mawphlang in the 65kg main card bout, but managed to use combination of top roll and side pressure to help Kiraak to a 16-12 win.
In the second match, Akash Kumar, Yogesh Chaudhary, and Arun S Karthik gave 3-0 lead to Kochi KDs in the Undercard against Mumbai Muscle. Mazahir Saidu continued his dominating run for Kochi, earning another cleansweep win over Paarth Sonni in the 100+ kg category to get 10-0 win. Kochi's Prince Kumar challenged Mumbai's Tom Joseph in 100kg main card bout, but consistent fouls cost him early on in the match. But Prince made a thrilling comeback to win the bout 3-2, and stunned Joseph.
In the final bout of the night, Kochi's Veer Sain challenged Mumbai's Chandan Kumar Behera in Specially-abled category. The latter maintained his dominance and continued to flash pin his opponent. Activating challenger round, Chandan sealed a 10-0 win. Mumbai Muscle lost 12-16 but climbed to the top.
Kiraak Hyderabad will face off against Kochi KD's and Ludhiana Lions will take on Rohtak Rowdies on August 10th, 2023, Thursday.
