With four wins and one defeat in the qualification round (January 7-15) of the 76th National Football Championship for the AIFF Hero Santosh Trophy in Kolhapur, Maharashtra have qualified for the next phase of the prestigious event to be held in Odisha next month. 

Led by sturdy right back Shravan Shetty, 27, and coached by former India midfielder Steven Dias, 39, and ex-junior national Ryan D’Souza, 49, the state outfit beat Madhya Pradesh 4-0, Chattisgarh 1-0, Daman & Dadra 4-0 and Haryana 3-1 before going down 1-2 to West Bengal in the qualifiers.