After 16 days of thrilling armwrestling action, over 180 bouts, and intense drama, Kiraak Hyderabad and Kochi KD’s made their way into the final of the inaugural edition of Pro Panja League, defeating Rohtak Rowdies and Mumbai Muscle in the Semi-Final at the IGI Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. The occasion was graced by Olympic-medal winning boxer Vijender Singh and Paralympic India President Deepa Malik.
The game was even-steven between Kiraak Hyderabad and Rohtak Rowdies after the undercard with Jagadish Baruah and Asker Ali winning their bouts for the former, and Ribasuk Lyngdoh and Niral Devi winning their bouts for the latter. The main card was all a star-studded affair as Sanjay Deswal gave Rohtak a fiery start, defeating Kiraak’s Ujjwal Agrawal 10-0 in 70kg category.
But straight up, Hyderabad’s Stewe Thomas brought things back to level pegging, beating Rowdies’ Mohit Kumar in the 70kg main card bout 10-0. When Rohtak’s Srinivas BV beat Kiraak’s Butta Singh in Specially-abled category with a clean sweep to get 5 points, the onus was on Siddharth Malakar from Kiraak to get a big win over Rohtak’s Arshdeep Singh in 90kg bout to save the match. Malakar did not disappoint and won the bout 5-0 to tie the game at 17-17, and it went to the tie-breaker.
In the tie-breaker, Madhura pinned Ribasuk to take her revenge on the night, but Nirmal Devi levelled things for Rohtak with a pin over Jincy Jose. Kiraak’s Stewe stunned Dara to get his side a 2-1 lead in the tie-break, and Asker Ali pinned Sanjay to win tie-breaker and Kiraak beat Rohtak 17-17 (3-1) to book a spot in the Final.
In the second match of the night, Rudra Naik, Prince Kumar and Abhirami PK gave Kochi KD’s a 3-1 lead. Chetna Sharma won 10-0 against Monika in the main card in the 65kg category and suddenly Kochi were leading 13-1. But Mumbai’s Chandan Kumar Behera beat Kochi’s Asif Ahemad in the Specially-abled category and won the bout with 10-0 to bring his side back in the contest.
Yogesh Chaudhary won the bout 5-0 against Bandarika Kharkongor in 65kg category to help Kochi KD’s take an insurmountable 18-11 lead. Kochi’s Siddhant Kathuria and Mumbai Muscle’s Kyle Cummings went toe-to-toe in the final bout, but Siddhant withdrew due to injury and Kyle won 5-0. Still Kochi KD’s won the match 18-16 to book a spot in the final.
Kiraak Hyderabad will face Kochi KD’s in the Pro Panja League final on August 13th, 2023, Sunday.
