With two more days of group matches left to play in the Santosh Trophy, five teams – West Bengal, Meghalaya, Punjab, Odisha and Karnataka – are left fighting it out for the two remaining semifinal spots up for grabs.
Kerala (10 points from 4 matches) have qualified for the 2022 Santosh Trophy semifinals from Group A and will play the first semifinal against the second best team from Group B on April 28. Manipur (9 points from 4 matches) have also sealed their qualification from Group B – and are most likely to play the second semifinal against the second best team from Group A on April 29.
Group A Points Table
West Bengal, who have one match remaining against bottom-placed Rajasthan, are the favourites to go through as the 2nd placed team from Group A.
Meghalaya and Punjab will be hoping Bengal slip up in their last match so that they have a chance of going through as the second-placed team if they can manage to win their final group match – against each other. If Bengal draw against Rajasthan, a win would be good enough for Meghalaya to overtake them and earn a spot in the second semi with a win. If Bengal lose, a win would take either team to 2nd spot.
Group B Points Table
Manipur have qualified for the semis, but Odisha stand a chance of overtaking them as group leaders. Odisha are currently winning their match against Gujarat on Saturday, and are set to consolidate 2nd spot with 7 points from 3 matches.
Having lost to Manipur on Saturday, Karnataka’s chances of making the semis have taken a hit. But they play the last match of the group stages on Monday against bottom-of-table team Gujarat, and will be hoping Odisha slip up in their last match to offer them a chance.
Remaining Matches
Meghalaya vs Punjab 24-04-2022 08:00 PM
Rajasthan vs West Bengal 24-04-2022 04:00 PM
Gujarat vs Karnataka 25-04-2022 08:00 PM
Services vs Odisha 25-04-2022 04:00 PM
Semifinal 1 – Kerala vs B2 28-04-2022
Semifinal 2 – Manipur/Odisha vs A2 29-04-2022
Final – SF1 vs SF2 02-05-2022