Chennai: Kerala kicked off their Santosh Trophy campaign with a 2-0 win over Telangana here on Thursday.
Forwards Firose K (10th minute) and Ceason (45th minute) scored for the five-time champions.
Kerala will play Tamil Nadu in their next match on Saturday. Tamil Nadu had beaten Telangana 3-0 in their firts match.
Only the team that tops the group will move to the next round.