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)