Udaipur’s District Football Association team created history on Monday 21 January by entering the semi finals of Mohan Kumar Manglam Footbal tournament that is being held at Zawar Mines.

Udaipur DFA team defeated Kolkatta 3-1 to enter the semi finals becoming the first team from Udaipur to do so in the 41 year history of the MKM Football tournament. Hindustan Zinc (winners twice), Rajasthan Police (Semi Finals) and B Choudhary (Semi Finals) are the only teams from Rajasthan to enter the semi finals of the prestigious tournament. MKM, since 41 years of its inception has produced some greats in the Indian Football circuit, viz. Babu Mani, Magan Singh, Subroto Mukherjee, to name a few. 9 players of the winning team from Udaipur have been trained at the Rajasthan State Sports Council academy that runs at Gandhi Ground, Udaipur.

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Hindustan Photo Film, BSF Jallandhar, Dempo Goa, NALCO Bhubhaneshwar, Gorkha Brigade Lucknow, CRPF Neemuch, ONGC, Kolkatta were among the teams that have participated in the current event. The MKM Football tournament is like a festival for the Zawar belt, where entire families from the nearby tribal villages come to watch each match during the tournament.

If the Udaipur team beats Lucknow in the semi final, it will again go down in the annals of history. As per Shakeel Ahmed, Secretary DFA, it is after 15 years that the Udaipur team has scaled this level. 15 years back the Udaipur team lost in the Quarter finals.