Bhubaneswar: Odisha qualified for the final round of the Santosh Trophy in style, winning all three of their preliminary league outings.
Having outplayed Madhya Pradesh 4-0 and edged past Telangana 1-0, Odisha overcame hosts Chhattisgarh 3-1 at Narayanpur to comfortably top Group F with 9 points.
Jitu Muduli, Kartik Hantal and Chandra Mohan Murmu scored fo
r Odisha, while Chhattisgarh’s only goal was netted by Avishek Kunjam.
Thirty-five teams were divided into 9 groups, with the group winners joining Assam (final round hosts), defending champions Bengal and losing finalists Kerala in the final round, which will be held in January 2026.
The 12 teams will be divided into two groups of 6 each. Four teams will progress from each group to the knockout rounds, beginning with the quarterfinals.
FINAL ROUND TEAMS
Bengal, Kerala, Assam (all direct qualifiers), Punjab (Grp A toppers), Uttarakhand (Grp B toppers), Railways (Grp C toppers), Nagaland (Grp D toppers), Meghalaya (Grp E toppers), Odisha (Grp F toppers), Tamil Nadu (Grp G toppers), Services (Grp H toppers), Rajasthan (Grp I toppers).