In the closed auctions, which saw a galaxy of the leading wrestlers go under the hammer, Vladimer Khinchegashvili, was the top-buy at a price tag of Rs 48 lakh by the Punjab franchise. The auctions were conducted under the watchful eyes of world renowned auctioneer Bob Hayton.
A heartening aspect of the auction was despite the demonetisation, the six franchises were quite liberal when it came to putting money on the ace wrestlers. “I think one of the biggest aspects of the league was the manner in which the franchise owners went about making their purchases. I am pretty sure that in no way has the demonetisaiton affected the PWL season 2,» said an official of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
With an eye on solidity and consistency over flashier purchases, the six franchises: Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab, Jaipur, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, bid cautiously and sensibly to ensure they had competitive squads going into the second season.
It must be mentioned here that all the teams operated with a Rs 2 crore cap on the purse to form a 9-member squad that should have five men and four women, five Indian and four international wrestlers.
Coming to the wrestlers, Rio Olympics gold medalist Vladimer Khinchegashvili, bought by Punjab franchise, was the top-buy at a price tag of Rs 48 lakhs. The Georgian grappler bettered his 2012 Olympics silver medal at Rio in the 55-60 kg category.
In the same vein, Delhi franchise splurged Rs 47 lakhs for Mariya Stadnik making her the most expensive women wrestler at the auction today. The 48 kg wrestler won the silver in 2016 and 2012 Olympics and a bronze in the 2008 edition.
Bajrang Punia was the most expensive Indian wrestler signed up by Delhi for Rs 38 lakh. Also joining him in Delhi is Sakshi Malik, who won a bronze at the Rio Olympics, fetched at Rs 30 lakh. But Ritu Phogat, 2016 Commonwealth Championship gold medalist, became the most expensive Indian women wrestler at Rs 36 lakhs after being signed by new entrants Jaipur.
Joining Sakshi in Delhi will be her fiancé Satyavart Kadian (97 kg). Interestingly, the Phogat sisters Babita and Geeta will represent the Uttar Pradesh franchise.
Among other top buys, 2016 world champion Magomed Kurbanaliev from Russia was bought by Haryana franchise, to become the second most expensive men’s wrestler at Rs 47 lakh. Mumbai snapped 2016 gold medalist (75 kg) Erica Wiebe for Rs 43 lakh making her the second most expensive women wrestler followed by three-time world champion Sofia Mattsson from Sweden who was signed by Haryana at Rs 41.50 lakh.
Other notable buys included Nigerian woman wrestler Odunayo Adekuoroye who was bought by Punjab for Rs 32 lakh. Mumbai also splurged Rs 43 lakh to rope in Jabrayil Hasanov in men’s 74 kg category. The Georgian had won a bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
On his part, the Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was impressed with the way teams went about buying wrestlers. “Season two auctions have been really balanced and the team owners bid very strategically. It’s exciting to see how juniors emerged as dark horses. I am confident of an action packed season 2 seeing the energy and enthusiasm that the team owners have shown.”