District Hockey Association, Guna, Madhya Pradesh, has started a new hockey tournament to commemorate the memory of the late K. N. Dubey. The tournament proved to be a success in its first year, with all the participating teams assured their participation for coming editions. There is also a proposal to invite a foreign team starting from next year.
On 5th Dec 07, Ashok Kumar, son of legendary Dhyan Chand, was the chief guest on the final day. In the finals, held on 9th Dec 07, Northern Railways, Lucknow, defeated Indore 4-0 to bag the title in the All India KND Trophy hockey tournament.
Shri Dubey was the Joint Secretary of Gwalior based Madhya Bharat Hockey Association and Founder Secretary of the Guna District Hockey Association. A well known personality, Dubey was also an International Grade-1 Technical Officer, and officiated in such top notch outings such as World Cup, Champions Trophy, Asia Cup, Asian Games and South Asian Federation Games.
A respected and well known official in Indian hockey, Dubey served the sport of hockey till the day of his passing (October 23, 2007). Fondly known as ‘Bhai saheb’, his unlimited energy to work, disciplined life and enormous inner strength are still vividly recollected Guna’s sports loving people. Guna district produced a large number of national players (40 plus) under his able guidance.
With limited resources at his disposal, Dubey initiated the All-India Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament in Guna besides organizing four international hockey matches successfully in the same town, which includes 1973: India-France Hockey Test, 1974: Sri Lanka vs. Guna XI , 1981: Russia vs. District Hockey Association President’s XI and 1986: India-Malaysia Hockey Test
Pic: Olympian Ashok Kumar unfurling the tournament flag on the final day of the competition.