Kerala crashes out, Punjab and Karnataka enter semifinals

FOOTBALL - Santosh Trophy National Championship, for online and print (The defending champion finishes third in Group ‘A’ after 1-1 draw with Punjab

A midfield tussle between Kerala’s Abdu Raheem (right, white jersey) and Punjab’s Parmit Singh in the Santosh Trophy National football championship in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Photo: AIFF | Photo Credit: AIFF

Kerala defender Mohamed Salim (right, white jersey) tries to thwart Punjab forward Kamaldeep in the Santosh Trophy National football championship in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Photo: AIFF | Photo Credit: AIFF

Defending champion Kerala crashed out of the 76^th Santosh Trophy National football championship after a 1-1 draw with Punjab in Bhubaneswar on Sunday which saw it finish third in Group ‘A’ with eight poinits.

Punjab, the Group ‘A’ topper with 11 points, and second placed Karnataka (9 points) qualified for the semifinals which will be held in Riyadh in the first week of March. Services had made the grade from Group ‘B’ on Saturday and the last berth will be confirmed on Monday after the final set of matches from the group.

Karnataka drew with host Odisha 2-2 while Maharashtra bt Goa 2-0 in other matches in Group A.

The results (Group A): Kerala 1 (Vishak Mohanan 24) drew with Punjab 1 (Rohit Sheikh 34)

Karnataka 2 (M. Sunil Kumar 17, Shajan Franklin 50) drew with Odisha 2 (Prabin Tigga 21, , Chandra Muduli 35).

Maharashtra 2 (Himanshu Patil 5 & 89) bt Goa 0.

Group A (final placings): 1. Punjab (11 pts), 2. Karnataka (9), 3. Kerala (8), 4. Maharashtra (6), 5. Odisha (5), 6. Goa (0).