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General Awareness practice

Sports Questions with Answers

Sports questions in SSC CGL, CHSL, MTS and RRB NTPC/Group D papers mostly test stable facts: number of players in a team, trophies and the sports they belong to, past Olympic venues, sports terms and awards. Questions on recent winners belong to current affairs, so keep this list to lasting facts. Tip: learn each trophy with its sport and each term with its sport, as options usually mix them.

Key facts

  • A football, cricket or hockey team has 11 players on the field; volleyball has 6, kabaddi has 7 and basketball has 5 on court
  • The modern Olympic Games began in 1896 at Athens and are held every four years; the Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius
  • Recent past Olympic hosts: 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2020 Tokyo (held in 2021) and 2024 Paris
  • Durand Cup and Santosh Trophy are football; Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup are cricket
  • Thomas Cup (men) and Uber Cup (women) are team trophies in badminton; Davis Cup is for tennis
  • The four tennis Grand Slams are the Australian Open, French Open (clay), Wimbledon (grass) and US Open
  • Birdie and bogey are golf terms; googly and yorker are cricket terms; love and deuce are tennis terms
  • Arjuna Award honours outstanding sportspersons; Dronacharya Award honours coaches
  • The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi in 1951
  • Commonwealth Games were hosted by Delhi in 2010
  • Pierre de Coubertin is regarded as the father of the modern Olympic Games
  • Ryder Cup is a golf competition; Dhyan Chand is remembered as a hockey legend

Worked examples

Q1. The Thomas Cup is associated with which sport? (A) Tennis (B) Badminton (C) Table tennis (D) Squash

  1. Davis Cup is the team trophy for tennis, so A belongs to a different trophy.
  2. Thomas Cup is the men's team trophy in badminton.

Answer: (B) Badminton

Q2. 'Birdie' is a term used in: (A) Cricket (B) Golf (C) Hockey (D) Badminton

  1. Cricket terms include googly and yorker.
  2. A birdie is one stroke under par in golf.

Answer: (B) Golf

Q3. The 2016 Summer Olympics were held in: (A) London (B) Beijing (C) Rio de Janeiro (D) Tokyo

  1. London was 2012 and Beijing was 2008.
  2. Tokyo was the 2020 edition.
  3. Rio hosted 2016.

Answer: (C) Rio de Janeiro

Shortcuts that save time

  • Pair each trophy with its sport in a short list. Most trophy questions can be settled by recall plus elimination of two sports you know the trophy does not belong to.
  • Remember hosts by the last digit: 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 move in steps of four. If you know one host, you can place the others, which removes guessing.
  • Avoid questions about champions of a specific year unless you are sure; those are current affairs, and a wrong answer costs marks.

Where this appears

SSC CGL Tier-1General Awareness section
SSC CHSL Tier-1General Awareness section
SSC MTSGeneral Awareness section
RRB NTPC CBT-1General Awareness section
RRB Group D CBTGeneral Awareness section

Sports

Practice Set
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In which country were the first modern Olympic Games held?

General Awareness · stress-free practice · answers reveal instantly · difficulty adapts as you go

Sports questions with answers

10 sample questions from this topic with the correct option and the solution.

  1. Q1. The word 'shake hand grip' is related to which game? (RPF SI 2018 (11/01/2019) Shift 1)

    1. Canoeing
    2. Weight Lift
    3. Swimming
    4. Table Tennis

    Answer: (D) Table Tennis

    Solution
    The 'shake hand grip' is a way of holding the racket in which the player grips it as if shaking hands with it. It is a standard grip used in Table Tennis. The other games listed do not use this term.

  2. Q2. Which Indian player won the first Olympic medal in badminton?

    1. P.V. Sindhu
    2. Saina Nehwal
    3. Kidambi Srikanth
    4. Sania Mirza

    Answer: (B) Saina Nehwal

    Solution
    Saina Nehwal won India's first Olympic medal in badminton at the 2012 London Olympics.

  3. Q3. The first Commonwealth Games in 1930 was held in which country? (RRB JE ME (31/08/2019) CBT 2)

    1. Australia
    2. England
    3. New Zealand
    4. Canada

    Answer: (D) Canada

  4. Q4. Which Indian is a five-time World Chess Champion?

    1. Anand Viswanathan
    2. D Gukesh
    3. Vidit Gujrathi
    4. Pentala Harikrishna

    Answer: (A) Anand Viswanathan

    Solution
    Viswanathan Anand has been the World Chess Champion five times.

  5. Q5. Who has won the Sir Garfield Sober Trophy for Cricketer of the Year 2017? (RRB JE ME (31/08/2019) CBT 2)

    1. Steve Smith
    2. Virat Kohli
    3. Ravindra Jadeja
    4. Ravichandran Ashwin

    Answer: (B) Virat Kohli

  6. Q6. How many Grand Slam tournaments are there in tennis?

    1. 3
    2. 4
    3. 5
    4. 2

    Answer: (B) 4

    Solution
    There are four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis.

  7. Q7. Who has won the Hockey World Cup the maximum number of times? (RRB JE (29/05/2019) Shift 2 CBT 1)

    1. Germany
    2. India
    3. Australia
    4. Pakistan

    Answer: (D) Pakistan

  8. Q8. Who has the record for the highest individual score in ODI cricket (men)?

    1. Virender Sehwag
    2. Rohit Sharma
    3. Sachin Tendulkar
    4. Chris Gayle

    Answer: (B) Rohit Sharma

    Solution
    Rohit Sharma holds the record for the highest individual score in men's ODI cricket with 264 runs.

  9. Q9. Who holds the record for India's youngest chess Grandmaster? (RRB NTPC CBT-I (05/04/2021) Shift 2)

    1. Viswanathan Anand
    2. D Gukesh
    3. Parimarjan Negi
    4. GN Gopal

    Answer: (B) D Gukesh

  10. Q10. How often are the Summer Olympic Games held?

    1. Every 2 years
    2. Every 3 years
    3. Every 4 years
    4. Every 5 years

    Answer: (C) Every 4 years

    Solution
    The Summer Olympic Games are held every four years.