Harpal Singh Bedi / Gurugram
Punjab Royals picked up Wrestling’s poster boy Bajrang Punia for Rs 30 lakhs, during the players draft for the Pro Wrestling League’s (PWL) here on Friday.
Vinesh Phogat, the first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Games last year, went to Mumbai Maharathi for Rs 25 lakhs.
Both Bajrang, who will take part in the 65kg category, and Vinesh, who will wrestle in the 53kg category, featured for UP Dangal in the last edition.
The six teams picked 54 from a strong pool of 225 players which included prominent Olympic medalists, continental champions, world champions, national champions and other wrestlers from all over the world. With the completion of the players’ draft, PWL-4 will see participants from Asia, Europe, Africa and the American continent.
Rio Olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik (62kg), who was with Mumbai Maharathi in the last edition, was bought by Delhi Sultans for Rs 20 lakhs.
The highest-paid foreign wrestlers were Venesa Kaladzinskaya (53kg) from Belarus, and Khetik Tsabalov (74kg) from Russia, went to UP Dangal and Delhi Sultans respectively for Rs 25 lakhs each.
The Delhi Sultans also got Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold medalist Rahul Aware (57kg) and 2018 World Military Championship gold medalist Khetik Tsabolov from Russia who will feature in the 74kg category.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Pooja Dhanda (57kg), went to debutant MP Yodhas along with national champion Ritu Phogat (53kg) and Sandeep Tomar (57kg). Another prize catch for the debutants has been 2018 European Championship gold medalist Haji Aliyev of Azerbaijan who will wrestle in the 65Kg category.
Two youngsters in fray, World Junior Championship gold medalist Anastasia Nichita (57Kg) of Moldova goes to Haryana Hammers and 2018 Junior National Championship gold medalist Sachin Rathi (74Kg) goes to Mumbai Maharathi.
The European Championship bronze medalist Tayana Omelchenko (62Kg) from Azerbaijan was also picked by Haryana Hammers along with Commomwealth Games silver medalist Praveen Rana (74Kg).
The 2018 Pan American Championship bronze medalist Betzabeth Angelica (57Kg) from Venezuela went to Mumbai Maharathi.
Four national championship gold medalists last year i.e. Amit Dhankhar (74Kg) went to Punjab Royals, Jitender (74Kg) went to UP Dangal, Rajneesh (65kg) went to Haryana Hammers and Harphool (65Kg) went to Mumbai Maharathi.
The fourth edition of the popular wrestling league is scheduled to held from from 14-31 January offers a price purse of Rs 1.9 crores for the winning team and Rs 1.1 crore for the runners-up team. It promises to be bigger and better than ever this year with the addition of a new team from Madhya Pradesh.
WFI president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh said: “I am really glad to announce that PWL-4 is happening from January 14, 2019 and I welcome the new team, MP Yodha from Madhya Pradesh. Wrestling is a very popular sport in India with huge fan following and PWL is only enhancing its popularity year after year.
“After the draft today, all teams look pretty balanced with a good mixture of youth and experience. The foreign wrestlers in the fray will make PWL-4 an interesting event to be watched and followed in various social media platforms. PWL is also giving our young wrestlers a platform to participate with world class wrestlers which will go a long way in sharpening their skills in the coming years.”
COMPLETE LIST:
MP Yodha: Ritu Phogat (53kg), Sandeep Tomar (57Kg), Pooja Dhanda (57kg), Elise Manolova (62Kg), Shilpi Yadav (62Kg), Vasil Mikhaillov (74kg), Andrea Carolina (76Kg), Deepak (86kg), Akash Antil (125Kg)
Delhi Sultans: Pinki (53Kg), Rahul Aware (57kg), Katherina Zhydachivska (57Kg), Sakshi Malik (64kg), kviatkoski Andrey (65kg), Khetik Tsabolov (74kg), Jitendra (74Kg), Shustovo Anastasia (76Kg), SumitMalik (125Kg)
UP Dangal: Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (53Kg), Rahul Aware (57 kg), Naveen (57kg), Sarita (57Kg), Navjot Kaur (64kg), Pankaj Rana (65kg), Epp Mae (76Kg) Irakli Misituri (86kg), Giorgi Sakandelidze (125Kg)
Haryana Hammers: Seema (53Kg), AnastasiaNichita (57Kg), Ravi Kumar (57kg), Tayana Omelchenko (62Kg), Rajnesh (65kg), Praveen Rana (74kg), Kiran (76Kg), Ali Shabanov (86kg), Khotsianivski Aleksander (125Kg)
Mumbai Maharathi: Vinesh Phogat ( 53kg), Betzabeth Angelica (57Kg), Ibragim Ilyasov (57kg), Shilpi Yadav (62Kg), Harphool (65kg), Sachin Rathi (74Kg), Zsanett Nemeth (76Kg), Deepak Punia (86kg), Baitseev Vladisiav (125Kg)
NCR Punjab Royals: Anju (53Kg), Mimi Hristova (57Kg), Nitin Rathee (57kg), Bajrang Puniya (65kg), Anita (62Kg), Amit Dhankhar (74Kg), Alina Stadnik Makhynia (76Kg), Dato Marsagishvili (86Kg), KoreyJarvis (125Kg)