Karnataka drubs Rajasthan

KOLKATA: Defending champion Karnataka swamped Rajasthan 13-0 here in a cluster I league encounter of the National junior football for the Dr. B.C. Roy Trophy here at the East Bengal ground on Monday.

Lokesh scored five goals while Prakash Majumdar struck thrice to figure prominently in Karnataka's goal riot. Sridhar (two goals), Rajkiran, S. Shankar and Mathen were the other scorers.

Karnataka, having scored 27 goals in two matches, needs just a draw against Meghalaya, which beat Chhattisgarh 4-1, in the concluding group league match to ensure a quarterfinal berth.

In cluster III, Mizoram beat Gujarat 5-1 to brighten its quarterfinal chances. In another match of the same cluster, Chandigarh thrashed Kerala 6-0 to remain close on the heels of Mizoram.

The results:

Cluster I: Karnataka 13 (Lokesh 5, Prakash Majumdar 3, Sridhar 2, Rajkiran, S. Shankar & Mathen) bt Rajasthan 0; Meghalaya 4 (Freddy Thaba, Shailong Hong, P. Nongkhash & S. Kharbyngar) bt Chhattisgarh 1 (Subham Sahu).

Cluster III: Mizoram 5 (Lalrammawia 2, Rochingpuia, Zoremtluanga, Lalmungchanga) bt Gujarat 1 (Khalifa Pervez); Chandigarh 6 (Gagandeep Singh 5 & Rajender Kumar) bt Kerala 0.

Cluster IV: Uttarakhand 5 (Balbir Kashyap 2, Rajesh Rawat, Satnam Bala & Manoj Manjhla) bt Jammu & Kashmir 0 .