Karnataka crash out of Santosh Trophy despite registering a thumping 11-0 victory over Andaman and Nicobar

The fate was already decided in the morning before Karnataka played their concluding match against Andaman and Nicobar in the four-team Group G encounter of 78th Santosh Trophy at the RDT Stadium, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Maintaining an all-win record, Tamil Nadu made to the final round of Santosh Trophy. Karnataka, despite winning their last game with a thumping 11-0 margin proved of no help as the former champions finished with six points, behind Tamil Nadu. Nikhil Raj Murugesh (4), Ryan Wilfred S (2), Crispin Cleetus, Surya UK, Syed Ahmed, Karthik Govind Swamy, and Andrew Gurung were the scorers for Karnataka. 

 

Final round will be played with 9 group toppers (Group A thru I), previous edition's winner and runner-up, Services and Goa, and host state (final round).     

 

This was perhaps Karnataka’s worst Santosh Trophy performance in the last decade. Last season, they finished at the bottom of the group in the final round. A season before that (2022–23), Karnataka emerged champions of Santosh Trophy. They reached semi-final in 2021–22, 2018–19, and 2017–18 season. 

 

Karthik Govindswamy to lead Karnataka in 78th Santosh Trophy

Karthik Govindswamy of BDFA Super Division team FC Agniputhra will lead the Karnataka state football team in the 78th Santosh Trophy. It was under his captaincy Karnataka won Santosh Trophy in 2022-23 season. Also, this will be Karthik’s third time in last three years that will be captaining Karnataka state in the national football championship. 

Slotted in Group G, Karnataka will play their group stage Qualifying Round at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh from November 15 to 19.

Fixture

• 15-11-2024: Andhra Pradesh Vs Karnataka 
• 17-11-2024: Karnataka Vs Tamil Nadu
• 19-11-2024: Karnataka Vs Andaman & Nicobar 

Team 

Karthik Govindswamy, Deepak S (GK), Sujay S (GK), Andrew G, Kiran Saravanan, Ahmed Faiz Khan, Deepak Kumar, Rudra Ved, Ashik Adhikari, Nivrutti Sunil Pavanoji, Shreyas Ketkar, Ryan Wilfred, Edwin Rossario, Akshay, Nikhil Raj, Godwin Johnson, Vijay, Surya UK, Crispin C. Cleetus, Ashwin Chakravarthy, Abhishek Powar, Sayed Ahmed 

Coaching staff & officials

Irudaya Raj Babu (Head Coach), Shiva Mani (Assistant Coach, R Nanda Kumar (Team Manager), Bappaditya Bhattacharjee (Administrative Manager), Mohd. Ahmed Hakeem (Physiotherapist)

Sporting Club Bengaluru earns qualification to I-League 2024-25

AIFF Media 

Sporting Club Bengaluru were crowned champions of the 2023-24 I-League 2 with two rounds to spare as they beat Sudeva Delhi FC 1-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi on Monday, April 15, 2024. The Golden Tigers have been promoted to the I-League 2024-25 for the first time ever.

Formed as recently as 2022, SC Bengaluru’s instant success story is one to take note of. It all started with their title-winning campaign in the 2022-23 Bangalore Super Division, their debut season in the league. As a result, they were eligible to participate in the 2023-24 I-League 3 and went on to top Group D only by a better goal difference over Diamond Harbour FC to qualify for the play-offs.

In the I-League 3 play-offs, SC Bengaluru finished in the top three alongside Dempo SC and Sporting Clube de Goa to book their spot in the I-League 2. Monday’s win cemented their status as champions as they took their tally to 27 points from 12 matches. Their sensational league triumph was mainly made possible by their impeccable home form. The Golden Tigers won all seven of their matches at the Bangalore Football Stadium. Their tally of 23 goals so far is the highest in the eight-team league, while they also boast of the joint-best defence, having conceded only 12 goals, same as Dempo – a testimony to their dominant and unrivalled campaign.

All of this came after a rough start to the season, with a couple of losses away to United SC and Dempo in their first three games. Chandrashekar Rao Chinta’s side then went on to win seven games in a row before a 3-4 loss to Sporting Clube de Goa last week halted that run. But the narrow win over Sudeva Delhi, thanks to Shaiborlang Kharpan’s first-half strike, proved enough to seal the title in SC Bengaluru’s favour, meaning they will become the first team to represent the city in the I-League since Bengaluru FC in 2016-17.

With the champions decided, the race for the runners-up and the second promotion spot remains wide open with as many as four teams still in the hunt ahead of the last two matchdays. Dempo SC are currently in second place with 21 points, followed by FC Bengaluru United and Sudeva Delhi FC on 20 points each and Sporting Clube de Goa on 19 points.

One could perhaps see Dempo or Sporting Goa making their much-awaited return to the I-League, or Sudeva Delhi bouncing back after their relegation last season, or maybe even Bengaluru United making it two in two for the city with a first-ever promotion. The next two weeks will provide all the answers.

 

Karnataka crash out of Santosh Trophy

Losing the last game against Maharashtra, Karnataka finished bottom of Group B of final round of 77th Santosh Trophy in Itanagar, on Saturday, March 2, 2024. 

The star for the match was Mohammed Arfat Ansari for Maharashtra a who scored a hattrick. However, today’s win was not enough to Maharashtra to qualify for the quarter-final round. 

Manipur, Mizoram, Delhi, and Railways made to the knockout round from Group B.

It has been the worst performance for last five seasons for Karnataka. After dishing out an impressive performance by reaching semi-final in 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, and winning the trophy last season, the state team failed to win a single game in the group stage this time. They needed to win the last two games to stay in contention for the knock-out round but lost 1-0 against Railways on Thursday, February 29 before losing 3-1 to Maharashtra on Saturday. 

    pic: Arunachal Pradesh Football Association

Karnataka go down to 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manipur

 AIFF Media 

Defending champions Karnataka went down to Manipur in their third Group B game of 77^th Santosh Trophy at the Golden Jubilee Stadium, in Itanagar, on Monday, February 26, 2024.

 

Ngangbam Pacha Singh scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 50th minute.

 

This result puts a severe dent in the defending champions’ chances for qualification to the quarter-finals, as they remain at the rock bottom of Group B with just two points from three matches. While they will have their work cut out in their last two matches against Railways and Maharashtra, who are in their own battles for qualification, one win will put them right back on track.

 

While with today’s win, Manipur climbed to the top of Group B. The side from the Northeast have now collected seven points from their three games, and are three points clear atop Group B.

 

Karnataka will take on Railways on Thursday, February 29.