Dubai’s own Sultan shines in wrestling ring

India's Faisal and Pakistan's Khan fight it out at the Dubai Pro Wrestling Ring, World Trade Centre.

Salman Khan in Sultan plays the character of a Kushti wrestler. And its box office collection strongly indicates the massive popularity of the film. The gaining popularity of the sport, thanks to the movie, could well be one of the reasons why a special match was organised at the Dubai Pro Wrestling Ring at the Shaikh Rashid Hall, at the Dubai the World Trade Centre.
The match was a best of three and Mohammed Faizal won it straight 2-0. Faizal is a wrestler from Hyderabad, India. However, in Dubai, he practises the sport every Friday at the Deira Fish Market. He looks lean, but when in the ring he is definitely mean. He defeated 'Khan' from Pakistan, who has been trained for judo in Singapore.
The match displayed how traditional and modern wrestling brings about an interesting twist when put up against each other. As always, in any sport things get hyped up when it is an India vs Pakistan match.
Dubai Pro Wrestling is an entertainment sport brought to the UAE by American national Caleb Hall. He has been in the wrestling industry of the USA for 17 years. With plans of growth for Dubai Pro Wrestling in mind, he informs that he is happy with the response he received from the local crowd.
Another high-octane match was between 'Lord Socrates' from England and 'Blue Lightning' from New Zealand. While Blue Lightning was zipping around in the ring, 'Lord Socrates' seemed to have a better mix of speed and strength. Blue Lightning had previously defeated Lord Socrates, and hence the match shifted into a different gear thanks to the drive for revenge from Lord Socrates who later won the contest.
While it is true that Dubai Pro Wrestling is an entertainment sport, the matches are not practised before hand. It is only the moves that are practised, to ensure safety of the wrestlers when they execute them.
Pharaoh from Egypt who also registered a win on the same night informed that winning this match doesn't make much of a difference to him. The win that matters to him is the one that will win him the championship belt. He considers Savage Sam from Lebanon to be one of the tough guys in the competition. Savage Sam has been undefeated and when asked about why no one else in Dubai Pro Wrestling seems to be able to defeat him, he hints on how the best can never be defeated and that he believes that he is definitely the best amongst all other wrestlers at Dubai Pro Wrestling.
gaurav@khaleejtimes.com