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🔒 Log in to trackSports: Trophies, Terms, Players & Venues
🔒 Log in to trackSports questions test four things: which trophy belongs to which game, which term belongs to which sport, how many players a side has, and Olympic facts. Learn each as a small table. The Olympic questions are the most frequent.
Trophy or cup and its sport
| Trophy | Sport |
|---|---|
| Ranji, Duleep, Irani, Deodhar, Vijay Hazare | Cricket (India) |
| The Ashes | Cricket (England v Australia) |
| Santosh Trophy | Football (states) |
| Durand Cup | Football (oldest in India, 1888) |
| Subroto Cup, I-League | Football |
| Aga Khan, Beighton, Dhyan Chand Trophy | Hockey |
| Rangaswami Cup | Hockey (national championship) |
| Sultan Azlan Shah Cup | Hockey (Malaysia) |
| Thomas Cup / Uber Cup / Sudirman Cup | Badminton (men / women / mixed) |
| Davis Cup / Billie Jean King Cup | Tennis (men / women) |
| Ryder Cup, Walker Cup | Golf |
| Swaythling Cup | Table tennis (men) |
| Ezra Cup | Polo |
| Stanley Cup | Ice hockey |
| Wightman Cup | Tennis (women, UK-USA, discontinued) |
| Ballon d'Or | Football (best player award) |
Tip: Thomas is the man, Uber is the woman. Davis is for the dudes, Billie Jean King for women.
Terms and their sport
- Cricket: googly, yorker, LBW, gully, cover drive, maiden over.
- Hockey: bully, penalty corner, dribble, scoop.
- Tennis: deuce, ace, love, smash, volley.
- Badminton: smash, drop shot. Love and deuce also appear in badminton scoring.
- Golf: birdie, eagle, bogey, caddie, tee.
- Chess: gambit, stalemate, castling, checkmate, en passant.
- Kabaddi: raid, bonus line. Boxing: punch, knock-out, uppercut.
- Shooting: bull's eye. Volleyball: spike, blocking.
Players per side
| Players | Sport |
|---|---|
| 4 | Polo |
| 5 | Basketball |
| 6 | Volleyball, ice hockey |
| 7 | Kabaddi, water polo, netball, handball |
| 9 | Kho-kho (in the field), baseball |
| 11 | Cricket, football, hockey |
| 15 | Rugby union |
Rule: Count up: basketball 5, volleyball 6, kabaddi 7. Then cricket, football and hockey are 11.
Grand Slams and big tournaments
| Tournament | Surface or fact |
|---|---|
| Australian Open | Hard court |
| French Open (Roland Garros) | Clay |
| Wimbledon | Grass; oldest, since 1877 |
| US Open | Hard court |
The first FIFA World Cup was in 1930 in Uruguay. It is held every four years. The first Cricket World Cup was in 1975 in England, and West Indies won it.
The Olympics
| Fact | Answer |
|---|---|
| First modern Olympics | 1896, Athens |
| Reviver | Pierre de Coubertin (IOC founded 1894, Paris) |
| Motto | Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) |
| Rings | Five, for five continents |
| Marathon | 42.195 km |
| India's first appearance | 1900 Paris, Norman Pritchard, two athletics silvers |
| First hockey gold | 1928 Amsterdam (first of 8) |
| First individual medal | K.D. Jadhav, wrestling, 1952 Helsinki |
| First individual gold | Abhinav Bindra, 10 m air rifle, 2008 Beijing |
| Javelin gold | Neeraj Chopra, 87.58 m, Tokyo 2020 |
The word 'Communiter' (Together) was added to the motto in 2021. The ring colours are blue, yellow, black, green and red. Paris 2024 gave India 6 medals. Manu Bhaker won two bronzes there. Neeraj Chopra won silver. Next come Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032.
Indian venues and milestones
- Eden Gardens is in Kolkata. Wankhede is in Mumbai. Chepauk (M.A. Chidambaram) is in Chennai.
- Narendra Modi Stadium (Motera, Ahmedabad) is the world's largest cricket stadium.
- Salt Lake (Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan), Kolkata, is a football ground.
- Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Delhi, is a hockey ground.
- Viswanathan Anand became India's first chess Grandmaster in 1988. The Ranji Trophy began in 1934.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Trophy or cup and its sport
The stem names Santosh, Durand, Thomas, Davis or Ryder and asks for the sport.
Group the cup by sport using the trophy table.
Use the men, women and mixed rule for Thomas, Uber, Sudirman and Davis.
Use the odd ones: Ryder is golf, Swaythling is table tennis, Ezra is polo.
Reject options from a different sport.
Trophy names carry no clue, so the table is the only way in.
The Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament of India, was first played in which year?
Show solutionHide solution
The Durand Cup is a football tournament.
It began at Shimla in 1888.
That is 42 years before the first FIFA World Cup.
1888
Sporting term and its sport
The stem lists googly, yorker, gambit, deuce or bull's eye.
Read the term.
Match it to the sport list in the notes.
Watch for shared words: love and smash appear in tennis and badminton.
Pick the sport where the term is unique.
Every term belongs to one core sport, and a few are shared.
The terms 'googly' and 'yorker' belong to which sport?
Show solutionHide solution
Both are ways of bowling.
They belong to cricket.
Bully and penalty corner are hockey; birdie and bogey are golf.
Cricket
Number of players per side
The stem asks how many play in a kabaddi, water polo or polo team.
Recall the ladder: 5, 6, 7 for basketball, volleyball, kabaddi.
Add the sevens: kabaddi, water polo, netball, handball.
Remember the odd ones: polo 4 and rugby 15.
Most sports sit in a narrow band, so only a few numbers need care.
How many players does a kabaddi team field on the mat?
Show solutionHide solution
Kabaddi sits at 7 on the ladder.
Kho-kho is 9, basketball 5 and volleyball 6.
Seven
Grand Slams and major tournaments
The stem asks which Grand Slam is on grass or clay, or the oldest tennis tournament.
List the year order: Australian, French, Wimbledon, US.
Attach the surface: hard, clay, grass, hard.
Remember Wimbledon as the oldest, since 1877.
For World Cups: FIFA 1930 Uruguay, Cricket 1975 England.
The surface is the fact examiners ask about most.
The Australian Open and the US Open are played on which type of surface?
Show solutionHide solution
Recall the order: hard, clay, grass, hard.
The first and last are hard courts.
Hard courts
Olympics: history, symbols and India's milestones
The stem asks about the first modern Olympics, the motto, the rings, or an Indian first.
Anchor 1896 Athens and Pierre de Coubertin.
Recall the motto and the five rings for five continents.
Line up India's firsts: 1900, 1928, 1952, 2008, 2020.
Marathon distance is 42.195 km.
The Indian firsts follow one time line, so recall it in order.
The five interlocking rings of the Olympic flag represent what?
Show solutionHide solution
There are five rings.
They stand for the five continents united by sport.
Coubertin designed them.
The five continents
Indian stadiums and venues
The stem names Eden Gardens, Motera, Wankhede or Salt Lake and asks the city or sport.
Match each stadium to its city.
Note the sport: Salt Lake is football, Dhyan Chand Stadium is hockey.
Remember Motera as the world's largest cricket stadium.
City and sport together remove most wrong options.
The Narendra Modi Stadium, the world's largest cricket stadium, is in which city?
Show solutionHide solution
It is also called Motera.
Motera is in Ahmedabad.
Ahmedabad
Shortcuts that save time
Thomas Cup is the men's team event. Uber Cup is the women's team event. Sudirman Cup is mixed. In tennis, Davis is for men and Billie Jean King is for women.
India won the Thomas Cup for the first time in 2022. Which sport is this?
Show solutionHide solution
Thomas Cup is the men's team event.
It belongs to badminton.
Badminton
Count up from five: basketball 5, volleyball 6, kabaddi 7. Cricket, football and hockey are 11. Only polo (4) and rugby union (15) sit far from this band.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Calling the Santosh Trophy a cricket event.
Santosh Trophy is football. Ranji Trophy is cricket.
Placing Roland Garros on grass.
Roland Garros is clay. Wimbledon is the Grand Slam on grass.
Calling Abhinav Bindra India's first Olympic gold.
He won the first individual gold. Hockey gave team golds from 1928.
Mixing up kabaddi (7) and kho-kho (9).
Kabaddi fields 7 on the mat. Kho-kho has 9 in the field.
Putting the Uber Cup under men's badminton.
Uber is women's. Thomas is men's. Sudirman is mixed.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Cricket: Ranji, Duleep, Irani; the Ashes is England v Australia; first Cricket World Cup 1975.
Football: Santosh (states), Durand (1888); FIFA World Cup began 1930 in Uruguay.
Badminton: Thomas men, Uber women, Sudirman mixed. Tennis: Davis men, Billie Jean King women.
Team sizes: polo 4, basketball 5, volleyball 6, kabaddi 7, kho-kho 9, rugby 15.
Olympics: 1896 Athens, Coubertin, marathon 42.195 km, five rings for five continents.
India: Pritchard 1900, hockey gold 1928, Jadhav 1952, Bindra 2008, Neeraj Chopra 2020.
Practice: 24 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 3 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.