New Delhi: Last year’s semi-finalists Bengal are in group A of the Santosh Trophy, along with defending champions Punjab .

Runners-up Services and the other semi-finalists Karnataka are in group B.

The four teams have been directly seeded to the quarter final and will be joined by the four qualifiers.

The quarter final league phase will commence from June 2 with the semi-finals lined up for June 10 and 11. The final is slated for June 14.

Hosts Tamil Nadu will take on Rajasthan on May 24, the opening day of the tournament.

Twenty-seven teams have been divided into eight clusters.

The winner of each cluster will move to the pre-quarter final knock-out round from which four will progress to the quarter final stage. (PTI)