Tamil Nadu and Manipur appear to have landed a tough draw in the quarterfinal league phase of the 67th Santosh Trophy National football championship which begins in Kochi and Kollam on Friday.
Only one team from each of the four quarterfinal groups will progress to the semifinals and Tamil Nadu has former champions Goa and Maharashtra along with Jharkhand for company in Group ‘A’.
Manipur is grouped with 31-time champion West Bengal, Punjab and Karnataka in Group ‘D’. Both the groups will be played in Kollam. The semifinals and final (March 3) will also be played in Kochi.
Quarterfinal league groupings (matches from Feb. 22 to 27): Group ‘A’ (matches in Kochi): Services, Railways, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh. Group ‘B’ (in Kollam): Tamil Nadu, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand. Group ‘C’ (in Kochi): Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir. Group ‘D’ (in Kollam): Manipur, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka.
