The 1999–2000 Santosh Trophy qualifiers began on 19 March and ended on 8 April 2000. A total of 22 teams completed the qualifying phase and play-off round to decide four of the eight places in the final round.
A total of 28 teams entered the competition and were divided into eight 'clusters' with three or four teams in each cluster. Six teams — Sikkim, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya — pulled before the start of the competition reducing the number to 22. Following the round-robin stages, eight teams played the play-offs, and Services, Punjab, Karnataka and Maharashtra made it to the final round.[1]
Qualification
Cluster I
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Services | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Gujarat | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 3 | |
| 3 | Rajasthan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 19 March 2000 | Services | 3–0 | Gujarat | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| X. Fernandes  5' Sajith Kumar  56' R. Das  76' | Report | 
Cluster II
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manipur | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 6 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Bihar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 3 | |
| 3 | Himachal Pradesh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | −14 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 26 March 2000 | Bihar | 6–0 | Himachal Pradesh | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Deepak Kumar Sinha  20' Shamim Khan  23' Amjad Hussain  44', 54' Bablu Thapa  60' Saluka Kalundia  72' | Report | 
| 27 March 2000 | Manipur | 8–0 | Himachal Pradesh | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Mangelm Jao Singh  28', 84' (pen.), 90' Shyamchand  40' Guneshwor  75' Bantu Golmei  79' Stephen Hmar  83' Nilakumar  86' | Report | 
Cluster III
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Railways | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | +17 | 6 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Andhra Pradesh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 3 | |
| 3 | Daman and Diu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | −21 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 22 March 2000 | Railways | 16–0 | Daman and Diu | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Balai Mondal  5', 38', 44', 55', 77' Manjinder Singh  13', 21', 30', 59' Kamal Ghosh  25', 33', 52', 67' Moin-ul-Haq  75' Nazeem Riyazi  88' Manjit Singh  89' | Report | 
| 24 March 2000 | Andhra Pradesh | 5–0 | Daman and Diu | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Syed Abdul Saleel  2' Prasana Kumar  69' Sriram  76' Johnson  78' Nagarjuna  79' (pen.) | Report | 
| 25 March 2000 | Andhra Pradesh | 2–3 | Railways | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Johnson  65', 87' | Report | Balai Mondal  25', 39' Majinder Singh  40' | 
Cluster IV
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Punjab | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 6 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Tripura | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Pondicherry | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 2 April 2000 | Pondicherry | 0–2 | Tripura | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Report | Sujith Ghosh  6' Arindam Ghosh  53' | 
| 4 April 2000 | Pondicherry | 0–2 | Punjab | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Report | Jaswinder Singh  11', 69' | 
Cluster V
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uttar Pradesh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Madhya Pradesh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Assam | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 1 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
The first game of Cluster V was played between Uttar Pradesh and Assam on 1 April. However, at 30 minutes into the first half, play had to stopped due to rain. Assam were up 1–0 after a 20th minute penalty kick conversion by Akom Ao. The match was replayed the next day.[2]
| 2 April 2000 | Uttar Pradesh | 3–2 | Assam | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Nandan Singh  42' Ajay Singh Rawat  51' Jatin Singh Bisht  86' | Report | Akum Ao  79', 84' (pen.) | 
| 3 April 2000 | Madhya Pradesh | 1–1 | Assam | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Mustak Ali Khan  19' | Report | Akum Ao  73' (pen.) | 
| 5 April 2000 | Madhya Pradesh | 0–0 | Uttar Pradesh | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Report | 
Cluster VI
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karnataka | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 3 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Jammu and Kashmir | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | −8 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 5 April 2000 | Karnataka | 10–2 | Jammu and Kashmir | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| RC Prakash  2', 31' J. Murali  22' Sunil  25', 27' Peter  26', 47', 62', 81' Vijay Kumar  28' | Report | Ranjeet Singh  32' Gurmeet Singh  65' (pen.) | 
Cluster VII
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orissa | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Delhi | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Chandigarh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 29 March 2000 | Chandigarh | 1–2 | Odisha | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Rajeev Rattan  61' | Report | Meghrai Tudu  59' Kapur Chand Yadav  78' | 
| 2 April 2000 | Delhi | 2–1 | Chandigarh | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Vimal Thapa  34' Hitender Rawat  83' | Report | Viney Kanwar  8' | 
Cluster VIII
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maharashtra | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 3 | Advance to Final Round | 
| 2 | Haryana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 | 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head result.
| 7 April 2000 | Maharashtra | 7–0 | Haryana | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Mohammed Najeeb  24', 62' Manjith Singh  28', 50' Khalid Siddique  42' Aqueel Ansari  64' Asit Jamal  77' | Report | 
Play-offs
The winner of each 'cluster' played a play-off game each and the final two qualification spots were determined.
| 30 March 2000 | Services | 4–0 | Manipur | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| VK Mishra  15' Amar Bahadur Thapa  35' Johnny Gangmei  44' Sajith Kumar  75' (pen.) | Report | 
| 7 April 2000 | Railways | 0–2 | Punjab | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Report | Jaswinder Singh  65' Ram Pal  80' | 
| 7 April 2000 | Uttar Pradesh | 0–2 | Karnataka | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Report | Peter  53' Sunil  57' | 
| 8 April 2000 | Orissa | 1–5 | Maharashtra | Carmel School Stadium, Chalakudy | 
| Nipendra Das  32' | Report | Mohammed Najeeb  22', 35', 79' Manjith Singh  30' Ali Abbas Rizvi  75' | 
References
- ↑ "Santosh Trophy final round from today". The Hindu. 9 April 2000. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ↑ Chandran, M. R. Praveen (2 April 2000). "Match abandoned due to rain". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 March 2017.