Rohit Mitra
Noida, Feb 1 (.) Title favourites Haryana Thunders were crowned champions of the Pro Wrestling League 2026, as they beat Delhi Dangal Warriors 5-4 in a keenly fought contest at the Noida Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
After eight bouts, the score stood at
4-4, it all came down to the final women’s 62kg clash, where Paris Olympic silver medalist Iryna Koliadenko delivered a masterclass under pressure.
The opening bout saw Delhi’s Turan Byranov face Harayana’s Parvinder Singh in the men’s 74 kg category. The Azeri athlete who won silver in the 2021 European Championships and U23 World Championship gold in 2019, dominated the bout winning it 8-2. Parvinder had no answer to Turan’s leg grabs.
Kajal Dhouchak of Haryana faced Delhi’s Ukrainian athlete Anastasia Alpyeyyeva in the women’s 76 kg bout.
Kajal, the winner of the gold medal at the U23 World Championships (2025), was up against Anastasia, a winner of the 2025 European Wrestling Championships.
After a cautious start by both fighters in round 2, the contest opened up as Kajal was able to secure her opponent’s back.
In the power minute Kajal won the contest 3-1. Kajal’s upset against the senior opponent tied the contest at 1-1 and boosted the Harayana team’ s self belief.
Haryana’s Tumur Tulga faced Sujeet Kalkal in the men’s 65 kg bout. The Mongolian athlete Tumur, a winner of the Hangzhou Asian Games gold medal, took the lead against Sujeet, a gold medalist at the U23 World Champions in 2025.
The bout went to the power minute with Tumur leading 6-1.
Sujeet touted as one of India’s best emerging wrestlers, turned it around with a leg grab and throw, taking the match 8-6, and giving Delhi a 2-1 lead.
Now Haryana fielded its strongest athlete Yui Susaki, the two-time Olympic medalist, against Delhi’s Saarika in the women’s 53 kg category.
Yui, known for ending bouts early, entered the arena amid a rapturous applause. Susaki, the Haryana captain, ended the bout in the first round with a score of 15-0, and took the match to 2-2.
Delhi regained the lead in the 86kg men’s bout as Asian Championship bronze medallist Vafaeipour Hadi Bakhtiar overpowered Ashirov Ashraf 11–0, before Haryana struck back strongly through Akshay Dhere, who overwhelmed Delhi’s Amit Kumar by technical superiority in the 57kg men’s contest.
The heavyweight clash then proved pivotal, with Ronak producing a commanding performance to defeat Anirudh Gulia 12–2, putting Delhi 4–3 ahead.
Neha Sangwan of Haryana was up against Delhi’s Anjali in the 57 kg weight category.
Neha, a silver medalist at the U-23 World Championships 2022, pinned her opponent to win the bout 8-2. Now the match stood at 4-4, with the ninth and final bout to decide the winner.
Iryna Koliadenko, two-time Olympic medalist of Haryana, faced Delhi’s Anjli in the women’s 62 kg bout.
Anjli was no match for Iryna, who has been one of the strongest wrestlers at the league. She won the bout emphatically. Anjli, who won her yesterday’s semi finals bout impressively, lost to Iryna
0-16.
Haryana Thunders will take home ₹1.5 crore prize money along with the PWL 2026 trophy, while the runner up Delhi Dangal Warriors will receive ₹75 lakh. Among the individual awards, Turan Bayramov of Delhi Dangal Warriors received the Player of the Tournament award worth ₹2.5 lakh for his 7 out of 7 bout wins in the 57 kg men’s category, accumulating a total of 59 points in PWL 2026, while Chandermohan from Punjab Royals was the highest point scorer of the tournament.
Neha Sangwan (Haryana Thunders) won the Player of the Match for keeping the final alive till the last bout, while Ronak (Delhi Dangal Warriors) won Fighter of the Match for his impressive performance in the men’s 125 kg category. Impact player of the match was claimed by Akshay Dhere (Haryana Thunders) for his strong performance in the the 57 kg men’s category.
Sports Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Wrestling Federation of India President Sanjay Singh, India team cricketer Shreyas Iyer, Gautam Budh Nagar MLA Pankaj Singh, and former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, were some of the eminent people in attendance.
The Pro Wrestling League made a comeback this year after 2019.
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