The players draft for the fourth season of the Pro Wrestling League 2019 will be held today in Gurugram. The tournament is set to begin from January 14 and will conclude on January 31, 2019. The 6 participating teams for this edition will be Delhi Sultans, UP Dangal, Haryana Hammers, Mumbai Maharathi, NCR Punjab Royals along with a new team named MP Yodhas.
Pro Wrestling League in its past 3 seasons has gained immense popularity due to the presence of star players from around the world and has proved to be a launch pad for several young players in front of a global audience. PWL has contributed to increased awareness amongst the youth towards a traditional sport like Wrestling and continues to inspire future athletes to take up wrestling as a career option and not just as a hobby.
The marquee names in the draft process include 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medal winner Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, young sensation Pooja Dhanda along with Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat. A total of 225 players have been registered for the draft and the 6 teams would compete to include top talents on their roster for the upcoming season.
Here are the LIVE updates of the draft process:
5:45 PM IST: The last set of drafts for the 125 Kg category will be:
5:40 PM IST: Akash Antil is the final player to be inducted in the draft and he will join the MP Yodhas team this season. Antil has won bronze in the National Championships in 2018.
5:37 PM IST: Punjab Royals will complete their roster with the acquisition of Canadian Korey Jarvis who lost out to Sumit Malik in the final of CWG last year in Gold Coast, Australia.
5:34 PM IST: Last year’s Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Sumit Malik will line up for the Delhi Sultans. Malik had a wonderful journey en route to his medal at CWG and would be hoping to emulate his successes in the PWL this season.
5:30 PM IST: Haryana Hammers will complete their roster with the selection of Ukranian international Alexander Khotsianivski who has won gold at 2018 International Ukranian tournament.
5:28 PM IST: The next pick is made by the UP Dangal who have chosen the Qatar native Giorgi Sakandelidze who has won a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Championship and would be looking to make an impact in the PWL.
5:25 PM: The ninth and final category in the drafts will see the Men’s 125 Kg category. The first pick in this round is made by the Mumbai Maharathis who have selected Russian international Baitseev Vladisiav who was the gold medallist in this category at the European Championship last year.
5:20 PM IST: The complete list of picks in this category is:
5:18 PM IST: The final pick from this category belongs to the MP Yodhas who have picked up Colombian Andrea Carolina who has won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games last year.
5:15 PM IST: Defending Champions Punjab Royals bolster their roster by bringing in Ukranian Alina Stadnik Makhynia. She was a bronze medallist at the 2016 European Championship.
5:12 PM IST: Delhi Sultans swoop in for Ukranian Shustovo Anastasia for this category. She was the gold medal winner at the European U23 Championship last year.
5:10 PM IST: Haryana Hammers picks up last year’s Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kiran. Kiran also won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships in Johannesburg in 2017.
5:07 PM IST: The next pick is made by the UP Dangal who have decided to get Estonian Epp Mae who has the distinction of being the bronze medal winner at the World Military Championships last year.
5:03 PM IST: The penultimate category in the draft will be the 76 Kg Women’s where the first pick is made by the Mumbai Maharathi who have chosen Hungarian Zsanett Nemeth who was the silver medallist at the European Championships in 2017.
5:01 PM IST: The complete list of picks in the 86 Kg men’s category is:
4:58 PM IST: The last pick in this category belongs to the MP Yodhas who have decided to pick Deepak. Deepak has won the National Championship back in 2016.
4:54 PM IST: 2018 National championship winner Praveen will play for the Delhi Sultans. The capital side will hope for an inspired performance from the extremely talented player.
4:51 PM IST: Another Georgian Dato Marsagishvili would be on the Punjab Royals roster for the tournament. Dato won the bronze medal at the European Championships in 2016.
4:48 PM IST: Georgian international and U23 world championship silver medallist Irakli Misituri would line up for the UP Dangal in this heavyweight category for this season.
4:45 PM IST: Next up is Deepak Punia who will represent Mumbai Maharathis this season. Deepak recently won a bronze medal at the Tbisili Grand Prix.
4:43 PM IST: The next category will be Men’s 86 Kg and the first wrestler is Ali Shabanov from Belarus. Ali is picked up by the Haryana Hammers. He was the bronze medal winner at last year’s World Championships.
4:40 PM IST: The final list of drafts in this category of 62 Kg women’s will be:
4:37 PM IST: The last pick in this category is with the UP Dangal and they choose Navjot Kaur in this round. Navjot has won gold at last year’s Asian Championship as well as bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, Scotland.
4:34 PM IST: Next up in the drafts will be the 2018 National Championship runner-up Anita and she will go to Punjab Royals for the season and she is a strong contestant in this weight category.
4:31 PM IST: Elise Manolova from Azerbaijan who won silver medal at last year’s European Championships will be part of the MP Yodhas in this category.
4:28 PM IST: Shilpi Yadav who was the bronze medal winner at the 2017 National Championship will line up for the Mumbai Maharathi in this edition.
4:26 PM IST: Probably the biggest attraction of the season will be Sakshi Malik who has been picked up by the Delhi Sultans. Sakshi won bronze at the Rio Olympics as well as Commonwealth games last yearalong with silver in 2014 Commonwealth Games. Medals in Asian championships cements her billing as one of the stars of the tournament.
4:23 PM IST: Next up is the women’s 62 Kg category. First up in this category will be Tayana Omelchenko who is a European Championship bronze medallist from Azerbaijan and will represent Haryana Hammers this season.
4:03 PM IST: The complete list of picks for the 74 Kg men’s category is:
4:01 PM IST: Amit Dhankar will be the final player to be drafted in this category and he goes to Punjab Royals. Dhankar won the senior national level championship last year.
3:57 PM IST: Vasil Mikhaillov who was part of the Ukranian contingent at the world championships last year will join up with MP Yodhas for the tournament.
3:53 PM IST: Indian junior Sachin Rathi is up next and is picked up by Mumbai Maharathi. Sachin was a gold medallist at the Junior level national championship.
3:51 PM IST: Russia international Khetik Tsabalov went to Delhi Sultans and was a gold medallist at the 2018 World Military Championship.
3:47 PM IST: Praveen Rana will play for Haryana Hammers this season. Rana won bronze at the 2017 Commonwealth Wrestling championship.
3:45 PM IST: The fifth category will be 74 Kg men’s category. First up is Jitender who won gold at last year’s National championship and is selected by UP Dangal for this season.
3:43 PM IST: The complete list of picks in the Women’s 57 Kg category is:
3:41 PM IST: Another star attraction this season is the young starlet Pooja Dhanda who has been picked by MP Yodhas. Pooja won bronze at the World Championships and silver at the Commonwealth Games last year.
3:38 PM IST: Venezuelan Bethzabeth Angelica who won the bronze medal at the Pan American Championships last year was drafted into Mumbai Maharathi for this season.
3:35 PM IST: Romanian international Katherina Zhydachivska who participated in the World Championships last year is picked up by Delhi Sultans for this category.
3:33 PM IST: Moldova international and World Junior Championship winner Anastasia Nichita was picked up by the Haryana Hammers. Nichita is an extremely highly rated talent and will be expected to shine in the tournament.
3:28 PM IST: UP Dangal select 2017 Asian Championship silver medallist Sarita for the 57 Kg category which was held in Delhi.
3:25 PM IST: The fourth category in the draft will be 57 Kg women’s category. The first pick in this round is Bulgarian Mimi Hristova who is going to play for Punjab Royals. Hristova was the runner-up in last year’s European Championships.
3:22 PM IST: The complete list of players drafted in the Men’s 65 Kg category is:
3:20 PM IST: The last player in the 65 Kg men’s category is Harphool who will represent Mumbai Maharathis. Harphool won the 2018 National Championships and is an exciting player.
3:16 PM IST: Delhi Sultans pick up Ukranian international Andrey Kviatkovski who was part of the Ukraine side in the 2018 World championship.
3:11 PM IST: Rajneesh who won the national championship last year will play for Haryana Hammers in the upcoming edition.
3:09 PM IST: Pankaj Rana is next and is picked up by UP Dangal. Rana was a part of the Indian squad at the World Championships held last year in Budapest, Hungary.
3:05 PM IST: The Indian superstar Bajrang Punia is selected by the defending champions Punjab Royals. Punia has won medals at the World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games and would be looking for more medals in this tournament.
3:02 PM IST: The next category will be the 65 Kg male category and the first pick is Azerbaijan international Haji Aliyev who won the European Championship last year and will play for the MP Yodhas.
3:00 PM IST: The complete list of picks in the 53 Kg female category:
2:58 PM IST: The last pick in the 53 Kg category will be the 2018 National Champion Pinki who will ply her trade for the Delhi Sultans in this year’s competition.
2:53 PM IST: Haryana Hammers have picked up 2017 National Champion Seema for the 53 Kg category.
2:51 PM IST: Belarus international Vanesa Kaladzinskaya goes to UP Dangal. She was the runner-up at the 2018 European Championships and won the world championship in 2017.
2:45 PM IST: Anju who finished second at the 2018 National Championship is selected by Punjab Royals for this season in the 53 Kg category.
2:41 PM IST: Next up is Ritu Phogat who is a gold medallist at the 2017 National Championship and she is selected by the new team MP Yodhas.
2:37 PM IST: The headline act of the draft, Vinesh Phogat will be playing for Mumbai Maharathi. Vinesh has had a successful year in 2018 winning gold medals at both the Asian Games in Jakarta and Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and would lead Maharathi march at the upcoming tournament.
2:35 PM IST: The complete list of picks in the first round of the draft that is 57 Kg Male:
2:34 PM IST: Ravi Kumar who came second at the 2018 U23 Championship has been drafted into Haryana Hammers for this season.
2:31 PM IST: UP Dangal selects Junior Championship runners-up Naveen as their first pick. Navin rose to prominence when he ousted defending champion Dutan Duain to progress to the finals which he ultimately lost.
2:28 PM IST: Defending champions Punjab Royals pick up Nitin Rathee who is a silver medallist at the 2016 Pune Mayor cup.
2:24 PM IST: Next up is Sandeep Tomar who is picked up by MP Yodhas. He has represented India in the 2018 World Championship and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
2:20 PM IST: Mumbai Maharathis select 2018 European U23 competition winner Russian international Ibragim Ilyasov as their first pick. Ilyasov competes in the 57 Kg category.
2:14 PM IST: 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Rahul Aware is the first wrestler in the draft and is picked by the capital side Delhi Sultans. Rahul won the gold medal in the 57 Kg division beating Canadian Steven Takahashi in the final.