The draw for the final round for the 75th edition of the Santosh Trophy was made on Thursday, 6th January to determine the allocation of 10 teams qualified from the initial round of the tournament with 37 teams participating. The States coming through the qualifiers are divided into two groups of five for the main event being hosted in Kerala. The final round of games will begin from February 2022, dates are yet to be confirmed.
The final round is divided into three phases - quarterfinal round, semifinal round and the final. The quarterfinal round will be played in a round-robin format with the top two teams, at the end of playing each other once, will advance to the semifinal stages. Over there, the Group A winners will fight it out against the runners up from Group B and vice versa.
Quarterfinal round
Group A
1) Meghalaya
2) Punjab
3) West Bengal
4) Rajasthan
5) Kerala
This group can easily be termed as the 'group of the death' with heavyweights Punjab, Kerala and West Bengal rubbing shoulders in the same group. Meghalaya and surprise package Rajasthan pose an unpredictable threat to the big boys to either topple their chances or make qualification places of their own. The desert state pipped favorites Maharashtra by a point in the west zone qualifiers in a stunning way. Two of the most successful sides in the tournament namely Punjab with eight titles and West Bengal, the highest winners of the competition with an incredible 32 honors will light up the contest. Host Kerala is also among the mix.
Group B
1) Gujarat
2) Karnataka
3) Odisha
4) Services
5) Manipur
Group B adds extra spice to the meal as it contains the holders, Services who begin their title defense against skillful Manipur aiming for their first trophy since 2002-03. They eliminated neighbors Mizoram in the qualification phase to reach this stage. Karnataka also boasts a strong team after carrying a perfect record in the previous round as they eye their fifth title. The greatest shock of the tournament was caused by Gujarat, few expected to be in this spot. The western state defeated footballing powerhouse Goa in the qualifiers. Odisha will look to defy all odds by moving into the semifinals.
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