Sports GK Mixed Quiz: Set 3

The correct answer is B, 440 yards. Milkha Singh, the quarter-miler known as the Flying Sikh, won the 440 yards at Cardiff in 1958, giving India its first athletics gold at the Commonwealth Games. The same year he also won gold at the Tokyo Asian Games, which is why 1958 is the year most often attached to his name.

Option A, the 100 yards, was a sprint outside his range; his strength was the long sprint of a quarter mile. Option C, the marathon, is a distance event and belongs to an entirely different kind of athlete. Option D, the 110 metres hurdles, is a technical event he never contested. Candidates also confuse the venue, so hold the pair together: Cardiff in 1958 for the Commonwealth gold in the 440 yards, and the Rome Olympics of 1960 for the fourth place in the 400 metres.

The correct answer is C, Manipur. M. C. Mary Kom was born in Kangathei village of Churachandpur district in Manipur.

Mary Kom is the only woman boxer to have won six world championship titles, and she is nicknamed Magnificent Mary. She took the bronze medal in the flyweight class at the London Olympics of 2012, the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal, and she has also won gold at the Asian Games of 2014 and the Commonwealth Games of 2018. She received the Arjuna Award, the Padma Shri, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, and served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.

Option A is wrong because Mizoram is best known in Indian sport for footballers. Option B is wrong because Assam is the home state of the boxer Shiva Thapa and the sprinter Hima Das. Option D is wrong because Meghalaya has produced no boxer of this record.

Exam tip: Mary Kom of Manipur, six world titles, bronze at London 2012, called Magnificent Mary.

The correct answer is C, M. S. Dhoni. India beat Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 2 April 2011, and Dhoni, who finished the chase himself, was named player of the match; Yuvraj Singh was player of the tournament. The win made India the first country to lift the World Cup in a final played at home.

Option A, Rahul Dravid, captained India in the 2007 edition, in which the team went out in the group stage. Option B, Virat Kohli, played in the 2011 side as a young batsman but captained India only later, and never in a World Cup final. Option D, Sourav Ganguly, led India to the 2003 final in Johannesburg, where Australia won. Dhoni is also the captain who won the first T20 World Cup in 2007, which is why his name appears in two separate questions from this chapter.

The correct answer is C, Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat. The Dronacharya Award, India's honour for coaches who produce outstanding sportspersons, was given for the first time in 1985, and Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat, a wrestling coach, was among the first three to receive it, along with O.M. Nambiar in athletics and Om Prakash Bhardwaj in boxing. The award is named after Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the Mahabharata, and it carries a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a certificate and a cash prize. It is given in two categories, regular and lifetime. Option A is wrong because Hansa Sharma was not among the first recipients. Option B is wrong because Karan Singh did not receive the award in 1985. Option D is wrong because Hawa Singh, the boxer, was honoured as a coach much later, not in the first list. Exam tip: the Dronacharya Award began in 1985, the Arjuna Award in 1961 and the Khel Ratna in 1991-92.

The correct answer is C, Zurich. FIFA has its headquarters at Zurich in Switzerland, from where it administers the World Cup and the world rankings. The body itself was founded in Paris in 1904, and candidates often confuse the city of founding with the city of the present headquarters, which is exactly the trap this question sets.

Option A, Paris, is where FIFA was founded by seven European associations in 1904, but the office moved to Switzerland long ago. Option B, Lausanne, is in Switzerland too and is the seat of the International Olympic Committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, not of FIFA. Option D, Geneva, houses the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization and the International Labour Organization among others, but not the world football body.

The correct answer is B, Fencing. Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman Bhavani Devi is an Indian fencer from Chennai who competes in the sabre event. She became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympic Games, at Tokyo in 2021, and won her opening bout there. She has taken gold at the Commonwealth Fencing Championship and a medal at the Asian Fencing Championship, and she trains with support from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. Fencing is a sword-fighting sport with three weapons - foil, epee and sabre - fought on a strip called a piste, where hits are recorded electronically. Option A is wrong because rowing is a water sport, in which India has been represented by athletes such as Bajrang Lal Takhar. Option C is wrong because Bhavani Devi has never been a boxer. Option D is wrong because she is not a wrestler. Exam tip: Bhavani Devi is a fencer in the sabre event and the first Indian fencer at the Olympics.

The correct answer is A, the Friendly Games. The nickname records the spirit in which the meet was set up, a gathering of nations bound by a shared history rather than a contest of blocs, and it fits the Federation motto, Humanity, Equality, Destiny.

Option B, the Asiad, is the popular short name of the Asian Games, and it is the swap most commonly tested in this chapter. Option C, the Summer Games, refers to the summer edition of the Olympic Games as distinct from the Winter Olympics. Option D, the Continental Games, is not the name of any single event; several continents run their own regional games. In one line for revision: the Asian Games are the Asiad and the Commonwealth Games are the Friendly Games, with mottoes Ever Onward and Humanity, Equality, Destiny in the same order.

The correct answer is C, Uruguay. The first FIFA World Cup was staged in Uruguay in 1930, the country having been chosen partly because it was celebrating the centenary of its independence and partly because it was the reigning Olympic football champion. Uruguay also won the tournament, beating Argentina in the final at Montevideo, so the host became the first world champion.

Option A, Brazil, hosted the World Cup for the first time in 1950 and again in 2014, and although it has won the trophy more often than anyone else, it did not host the first edition. Option B, Italy, hosted the second World Cup in 1934 and won it, and hosted again in 1990. Option D, France, hosted the third edition in 1938 and hosted again in 1998, when it won the title at home; the Frenchman Jules Rimet was FIFA president when the tournament began, which is the source of the confusion.

The correct answer is B, India and Pakistan. The 1987 tournament, sponsored as the Reliance Cup, was the first taken away from England and the first in which an innings was cut from 60 overs to 50, the length used ever since. Australia won the final against England in Kolkata under Allan Border.

Option A, Australia and New Zealand, hosted the next edition in 1992, the one that introduced coloured clothing, the white ball and floodlit matches, and also the 2015 tournament. Option C, South Africa, hosted in 2003 and the first T20 World Cup in 2007, but could not host earlier because it was excluded from international cricket until 1991. Option D, West Indies, hosted its only World Cup in 2007. Remember the sequence of firsts: 1975 the first tournament, 1987 the first outside England, 1992 the first under lights.

The correct answer is A, Badminton. The Sudirman Cup is the world mixed team championship of badminton, organised by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was first held in 1989 in Jakarta and is named after Dick Sudirman, the founder of the Badminton Association of Indonesia. Each tie has five matches, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, so a country needs strong men and women players to win. It is held every two years. The other two team trophies of badminton are the Thomas Cup for men and the Uber Cup for women. B is wrong because baseball's top events include the World Series in the United States and the World Baseball Classic. C is wrong because volleyball has the FIVB World Championship and the Volleyball Nations League. D is wrong because basketball's world event is the FIBA World Cup, and the William Jones Cup is another basketball trophy. Exam tip: badminton team trophies, Thomas Cup (men), Uber Cup (women), Sudirman Cup (mixed).

The correct answer is B, twelve yards. The penalty mark in football is twelve yards, about eleven metres, from the midpoint of the goal line, and a penalty kick is taken from that spot with only the goalkeeper defending. This measurement is among the handful of numbers from the laws of the game that examiners ask directly.

Option A, ten yards, is the distance at which defending players must stand back from the ball at a free kick, so it is a real number from the same game but the wrong one here. Option C, fifteen yards, corresponds to nothing fixed in the laws and is placed only as a plausible distractor. Option D, eighteen yards, is the depth of the penalty area itself, which extends eighteen yards from the goal line and is often loosely called the eighteen yard box, which is the source of the confusion.

The correct answer is C, Football. All three are Indian football tournaments. The Durand Cup, first played in 1888 and named after Sir Mortimer Durand, then Foreign Secretary of British India, is Asia's oldest football tournament and is still organised with the help of the armed forces. The Santosh Trophy is the national football championship for state teams, first held in 1941. The Rovers Cup was a famous club tournament played in Mumbai from 1891. Papers often mix these with trophies from other sports, so learn them in sets. A is wrong because hockey's well-known Indian trophies include the Beighton Cup and the Aga Khan Cup. B is wrong because cricket's domestic trophies are the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup and Vijay Hazare Trophy. D is wrong because badminton's world team events are the Thomas Cup for men, the Uber Cup for women and the Sudirman Cup for mixed teams. Exam tip: Durand, Santosh, Rovers, Federation Cup = football; Ranji, Duleep, Irani = cricket; Beighton, Aga Khan = hockey.

The correct answer is B, Bangkok. The Thai capital has staged the Asian Games on four occasions, more than any other city, and it twice stepped in at short notice when another host withdrew, which is how it built up that record.

Option A, New Delhi, has hosted twice, in 1951 and 1982, and is the answer to the separate question about the Indian editions, not to this one. Option C, Tokyo, hosted the Asian Games in 1958 and is better remembered as the first Asian city to host the Olympic Games. Option D, Seoul, hosted the 1986 Asian Games and then the 1988 Olympics, a pairing examiners like, but it is not the most frequent Asiad host. Read the stem carefully: the question asks for the most frequent host, not for an Indian or an Olympic connection.

The correct answer is C, West Indies. The first World Cup was played in England in 1975 over 60 overs an innings, and West Indies beat Australia in the final at Lord's under Clive Lloyd. They retained the trophy in 1979, so Lloyd is the only captain to win it in two successive editions.

Option A, Australia, lost that 1975 final and had to wait until 1987 for its first title, which it then followed with five more. Option B, England, hosted the 1975, 1979 and 1983 tournaments and lost the finals of 1979, 1987 and 1992 before finally winning in 2019. Option D, India, was a minor side in 1975 and won its first title in 1983 at the same ground, beating West Indies. The safest way to hold this question is to remember that the first two World Cups were both in England and both won by West Indies.

The correct answer is B, more boundaries hit in the final. England and New Zealand finished level after fifty overs each at Lord's, and the Super Over that followed was tied as well. The playing conditions then in force gave the title to the side with more fours and sixes in the match, and that was England, who won their first World Cup this way.

Option A, net run rate, decides places in a group table, never the result of a knockout match. Option C is wrong because wickets are not counted in a Super Over tie-break in this fashion, and the rule as written spoke of boundaries. Option D, a bowl-out, was used in Twenty20 cricket before the Super Over was introduced, most famously in the 2007 T20 World Cup match between India and Pakistan, but it had long been dropped by 2019. The boundary-count rule was removed after this final, so 2019 remains the only World Cup settled in this manner.

The correct answer is B, Guru Dutt Sondhi, the Indian sports administrator who put the proposal to the Asian delegates during the 1948 London Olympics. His idea led to the formation of the Asian Games Federation at New Delhi in 1949 and to the first Games there in 1951.

Option A, Jawaharlal Nehru, is closely tied to the event because he declared the 1951 Games open and gave them their public standing, but the proposal was not his. Option C, Pierre de Coubertin, revived the modern Olympic Games and founded the International Olympic Committee, which places him in a different chapter altogether. Option D, Melville Marks Robinson, is the organiser of the first British Empire Games at Hamilton in 1930, so he belongs to the Commonwealth Games half of this topic. Sondhi for Asia and Robinson for the Commonwealth is the pair to remember.

The correct answer is B, Durand Cup. The Durand Cup was first played at Shimla in 1888 and is the oldest football tournament in India and in Asia, and the third oldest in the world. It is named after Sir Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary of British India at that time, and it later moved to Delhi and then to Kolkata.

Option A, the Santosh Trophy, began much later, in 1941, and is the national championship played between the states and units rather than between clubs. Option C, the Subroto Cup, started in 1960 and is the best known school level football tournament in the country, named after Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. Option D, the Rovers Cup, was founded in Bombay in 1891, which makes it older than the other two but still three years younger than the Durand Cup.

The correct answer is C, Australia. Australia has won the one-day World Cup six times, in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015 and 2023, and its run of three in a row between 1999 and 2007 is unmatched. No other country is close to that record.

Option A, India, has won twice, in 1983 and 2011, and has also lost two finals, in 2003 and 2023. Option B, West Indies, won the first two editions in 1975 and 1979 and so also stands at two. Option D, England, won only in 2019, at its fourth attempt in a final, having lost those of 1979, 1987 and 1992. Keep the full roll in mind, because only six countries have ever won this trophy: Australia, India, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England.

The correct answer is C, Brazil. The Jules Rimet Trophy, named after the FIFA president who conceived the World Cup, was to be kept permanently by the first nation to win the competition three times. Brazil achieved that in 1970 in Mexico, having already won in 1958 and 1962, and the trophy was handed over to it for good. FIFA then commissioned a new prize, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, awarded from 1974 onwards.

Option A, Italy, had also won three titles by 1982, but the rule applied only to the old trophy, which had already gone to Brazil. Option B, Uruguay, won the first World Cup in 1930 and won again in 1950, so it never reached three wins. Option D, West Germany, won in 1954 and 1974; its 1974 victory came with the new trophy, not the Jules Rimet.

The correct answer is B, India. The first men's T20 World Cup was staged in South Africa in 2007, and India beat Pakistan in the final at Johannesburg under M. S. Dhoni, a match remembered for its last over. India won the tournament a second time in 2024, when the final was played in Barbados.

Option A, Pakistan, lost that first final but won the next edition in England in 2009. Option C, South Africa, hosted the 2007 tournament but did not reach its final, which is what makes it the most tempting wrong answer. Option D, Australia, won its only men's T20 title in 2021 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Note for the paper that England and West Indies have each won this tournament twice as well, England in 2010 and 2022 and West Indies in 2012 and 2016.