Heavyweights West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab were drawn in the same group for the upcoming 75th Santosh Trophy football tournament on Thursday.
The official draw for the tournament was held here on Thursday with former India defender Gouramangi Singh assisted in the process.
The ten teams that came through qualifiers were drawn into two groups of five each for the main event to be held in Kerala from February 20.
“I am very happy to know that the Santosh Trophy will be held in Kerala as it is a football state,” Gouramangi said.
“It is a big initiative by AIFF and Kerala government and I wish the players all the best.”
Group A can easily be classified as the ‘Group of Death’, with the likes of West Bengal, Kerala and Punjab going head-to-head with Meghalaya and the surprise package Rajasthan.
The defending champion Services in Group B have been clubbed with Manipur, Karnataka, Odisha and Gujarat qualifying at the expense of powerhouse Goa.
The Platinum Jubilee edition of the tournament will be inaugurated by the two most successful sides of the competition, West Bengal (32-time winners) and Punjab (8).
Hosts Kerala started their campaign against Rajasthan, who beat Maharashtra by one point in the West Zone qualifiers.
Services began their title defense for Manipur which knocked out Mizoram in qualifying.
Karnataka, who came up with a perfect record, would be hoping to build up more momentum in their opening game against Odisha.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Group A: Meghalaya, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala
Group B: Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Services, Manipur.
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