NEW DELHI: Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik registered a dominating victory over compatriot Ritu Malik Dalal to help Mumbai Maharathi stay afloat in the tie against Veer Marathas in the Pro Wrestling League here today.
Coming into the tie down 1-2, Maharathi's icon player grappled with élan and brought her team back into the contest with a huge 14-0 victory at the Siri Fort Indoor Stadium.
Earlier, Mumbai won the toss and decided to keep Shravan out of the equation while Marathas used their card to block Seema Bisla.
Olympic champion Soslan Ramonov of Russia got Maharathis off to a great start as he annihilated India’s Amit Dhankar 16-0 through technical superiority in the 65-kg competition.
Soslan was at his brutal best and did not even break into a sweat as he sealed the bout within a couple of minutes of the opening period.
In the second bout, skipper Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus restored parity for Marathas after she staved off a stiff challenge from France's Cynthia Vescan of France 2-1 in the 76 -kg event. It was an evenly poised battle and the results could have gone either ways but Vasilisa hung on valiantly to come out victorious.
World championship bronze medallist Georgi Keteov of Armenia made it 2-1 in favour of Marathas after he registered a convincing 5-0 victory over India's Satyawart Kadian in the heavyweight category.
It was a pulsating contest with none of the wrestlers able to score a point in the opening period. However, after the breather, Georgi used all his experience and broke through the defence of his opponent to end on a winning note.