Haryana Pro Wrestling League team picks Yogeshwar Dutt for Rs 39.7 lakh in auction, Sushil Kumar goes to UP for Rs 38.2 lakh

NEW DELHI: Six teams in the newly launched Pro Wrestling League (PWL) today picked up top global wrestlers through an auction with Indian wrestling star Yogeshwar Dutt bagging an offer of Rs 39.7 lakh from the Haryana team. Olympian Sushil Kumar was bought by the Uttar Pradesh team for Rs 38.2 lakh.

The New Delhi team is owned by the GMR Group, Bengaluru by JSW Group, Punjab by CDR Group and actor Dharmendra, Uttar Pradesh by builder Lotus Greens, Haryana by Olive Global and Mumbai by Maverick Garducharya Industries and Mafatlal Industries.

Apart from Dutt and Kumar, American wrestler Adeline Gray was picked by Mumbai for Rs 37 lakhs, Narsingh Yadav went to Bengaluru for Rs 34.5 lakh, Commonwealth Games medal winner Geeta Phogat was picked by Punjab for Rs 33 lakhs while Swedish wrestler Sofia Mattsson went to New Delhi for Rs 33 lakh.

Georgian wrestler Vladimer Khinchegashvili was taken by Punjab for Rs 35.3 lakh, Amit Dahiya was sold to Haryana for Rs 30.1 lakh, Rahul Aware to Mumbai for Rs 26.6 lakh, Bajrang Punia to Bengaluru for Rs 29.5 lakh while Amit Dhankar went to Mumbai for Rs 29.3 lakh.

Each of the six teams will have nine players – 5 Indians, 4 foreign, 5 men, 4 women—who will play in the league that begins on December 10, 2015. Each team had a purse of Rs 2 crore to buy players.

“PWL is going to be a game changer in the non-cricket leagues. We had some of the best wrestlers in the world as part of our auction and we hope that each team emerge as a strong competitor to give an action packed event to the fans. It will be our endeavor to focus on the essence of the sport without any compromise and keep the culture and heritage of the sport alive,” said Kartikeya Sharma, managing director of Pro Sportify and founder of PWL.