65th Santosh Trophy: Semifinalists finalised

The quarterfinal league in the 65th Santosh Trophy finished yesterday with the four teams - Manipur, Railways, West Bengal, Services - now known who have qualified for the semifinals which will be played over the next couple of days.

The 65th edition of the Santosh Trophy is being held from May 6 to 30 across Assam in the seven cities of Guwahati, Nagaon, Mangaldoi, Tinsukia, Shivsagar, Kokrajhar and Bongalgaon, but since the quarterfinal league the tournament is being held only in the capital Guwahati.

Group A saw former champions Manipur topping the group with two wins and a draw, while defending champions West Bengal came through with four points, but Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh were eliminated with only three points.

Group B was a much more interesting affair, then Railways went through with an all win record, but the three other sides Services, Punjab and Goa all finished with two points from two draws and a loss. But Services were the lucky side as they had the same goal difference with Punjab, but had scored a couple of more goals.

But there isn't much of a buzz surrounding this edition of the Santosh Trophy with the I-League and the second Division I-League keeping the best players away from the tournament. And this seems to have hit the traditional power houses of Indian football hard, while Railways and Services could draw on the players on their payroll and build strong teams to challenge the best states in the country.

For the semifinals and final the AIFF has been able to rope in DD Sports, who will be showing the matches live from 17.30 IST onwards.


Quarterfinal League

Group A

#- Team-------- P W-D-L GF-GA GDF PTS
1. Manipur----- 3 2-1-0 06-02 +04 07
2. West Bengal- 3 1-1-1 07-05 +02 04
3. Tamil Nadu-- 3 1-0-2 05-06 -01 03
4. Chhattisgarh 3 1-0-2 04-09 -05 03

17-May-2011: West Bengal 4-1 Chhattisgarh
17-May-2011: Tamil Nadu 1-2 Manipur
19-May-2011: Chhattisgarh 3-2 Tamil Nadu
19-May-2011: Manipur 2-2 West Bengal
21-May-2011: Chhattisgarh 0-3 Manipur
21-May-2011: West Bengal 1-2 Tamil Nadu

Group B

#- Team-------- P W-D-L GF-GA GDF PTS
1. Railways---- 3 3-0-0 07-02 +05 09
2. Services---- 3 0-2-1 06-07 -01 02
3. Punjab------ 3 0-2-1 04-05 -01 02
4. Goa--------- 3 0-2-1 04-07 -03 02

20-May-2011: Punjab 2-2 Services
20-May-2011: Goa 0-3 Railways
22-May-2011: Services 3-3 Goa
22-May-2011: Railways 2-1 Punjab
24-May-2011: Services 1-2 Railways
24-May-2011: Punjab 1-1 Goa


Semifinals

26-May-2011: Manipur - Services (17.30 IST)
27-May-2011: Railways - West Bengal (17.30 IST)

Final

30-May-2011: Winner SF1 - Winner SF2