Sports Questions for RRB NTPC

Team Sports — Players and Trophies

RRB NTPC frequently asks how many players are in each sport and what the major trophies are called. Memorise the standard team sizes and landmark tournaments. Remember: Cricket is the most tested sport in Indian competitive exams, followed by Football and Hockey.

• Cricket: 11 players — ICC Cricket World Cup (ODI), ICC T20 World Cup, ICC Test Championship
• Football: 11 players — FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Durand Cup (oldest football tournament in Asia)
• Hockey: 11 players — FIH Hockey World Cup, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Dhyan Chand Trophy, India's national sport is NOT officially hockey (no gazette notification)
• Basketball: 5 players — FIBA World Cup
• Volleyball: 6 players; Kabaddi: 7 players; Kho-Kho: 9 players
• Polo: 4 players per team — often asked as a tricky question

Major Tournaments and Host Countries

Questions on recent editions of ICC Cricket World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games appear almost every cycle. Focus on the last 2-3 editions including venues and winners.

• ICC ODI World Cup 2023: Held in India, Winner — Australia (beat India in final, Ahmedabad)
• FIFA World Cup 2022: Qatar — Winner Argentina (beat France in final)
• Commonwealth Games 2022: Birmingham, UK — India finished 4th with 61 medals
• Asian Games 2023: Hangzhou, China — India's best ever: 107 medals (28 Gold)
• Olympics 2020 (held 2021): Tokyo — India won 7 medals, Neeraj Chopra Gold in Javelin
• Olympics 2024: Paris — India won 6 medals, Neeraj Chopra Silver in Javelin

Governing Bodies of Sports

International and national governing bodies are a favourite RRB NTPC question type. Match the sport to its governing body — both international (using acronyms) and Indian bodies (under Sports Ministry).

• Cricket: ICC (International Cricket Council), BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India)
• Football: FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), AIFF (All India Football Federation)
• Hockey: FIH (Federation Internationale de Hockey), Hockey India
• Tennis: ITF (International Tennis Federation), AITA (All India Tennis Association)
• Athletics: World Athletics (formerly IAAF), AFI (Athletics Federation of India)
• Badminton: BWF (Badminton World Federation), BAI (Badminton Association of India)

Indian Sports Awards

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now renamed Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna), Arjuna Award, Dronacharya Award, and Dhyan Chand Award are frequently asked. Know what each award is for and a few recent winners.

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: Highest sports honour in India — renamed from Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2021
• Arjuna Award: For outstanding performance in sports over 4 years
• Dronacharya Award: For sports coaches — lifetime and regular category
• Dhyan Chand Award: Lifetime achievement in sports
• Neeraj Chopra was awarded Khel Ratna 2018 (then Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna)
• These awards are announced on National Sports Day — 29 August (birthday of Major Dhyan Chand)

Famous Venues and Their Sports

Stadiums and venues are tested both in GK and sometimes as part of reasoning analogies. Link each famous venue to its sport and location.

• Eden Gardens (Kolkata) — Cricket; Lord's (London) — Mecca of Cricket
• Wembley Stadium (London) — Football; Maracana (Rio de Janeiro) — Football
• Wimbledon (London) — Lawn Tennis played on grass courts
• Augusta National (USA) — Golf (Masters Tournament)
• Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad) — Largest cricket stadium in the world
• Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Delhi) — Football and Athletics; hosted 2010 Commonwealth Games

Individual Sports — Key Facts

Boxing, Badminton, Wrestling, Tennis, and Athletics related to Indian players come up often. Link the player to the sport, achievement, and any first-ever milestone.

• PV Sindhu — Badminton, 2 Olympic medals (Silver 2016, Bronze 2021), first Indian woman to win 2 Olympic medals
• MC Mary Kom — Boxing, 6-time World Champion, Olympic Bronze 2012
• Neeraj Chopra — Javelin Throw, Olympic Gold 2021 (first Indian to win Athletics Olympic gold)
• Sushil Kumar — Wrestling, 2 Olympic medals (Bronze 2008, Silver 2012)
• Abhinav Bindra — Shooting, Olympic Gold 2008 (first individual gold for India at Olympics)
• Sachin Tendulkar — First batsman to score 100 international centuries; Bharat Ratna 2014

• Calling Hockey India's national sport — there is NO officially declared national sport of India. Many aspirants write Hockey without knowing this fact.
• Confusing Dronacharya Award (for coaches) with Arjuna Award (for players) — the names are mixed up under pressure.
• Mixing up FIFA World Cup 2022 winner (Argentina) with 2018 winner (France) — both are recent and examiners exploit this.
• Forgetting that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was renamed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021 — old question papers still show old name which causes confusion.
• Confusing National Sports Day date — it is 29 August (birth anniversary of Dhyan Chand), NOT 6 April (International Day of Sport for Development and Peace).

• BCCI-FIFA-FIH-ITF trick: Big Cats Fight In The Forest — B=BCCI(Cricket), C=Cricket, F=FIFA(Football), F=FIH(Hockey), I=ITF(Tennis), F=Federation.
• For player count: CALF-BVK — Cricket and Football=11, basketball=5 (one hand), Volleyball=6, Kho-kho=9, Kabaddi=7. Think of a CALF on a farm needing different group sizes.
• For awards order by prestige: KDA — Khel Ratna is King, then Dronacharya for coaches (D=Drona=Guru=Teacher), then Arjuna for players (A=Athletes), Dhyan Chand last for lifetime.
• Neeraj Chopra memory hook: GOLD SPEAR — Gold at Olympics, Spear (javelin), First in Athletics for India. Picture a golden spear flying over Tokyo.

• RRB NTPC 2024-25 papers have shown increased focus on Asian Games 2023 and Paris Olympics 2024 — spend extra time on medal tallies and gold medallists from these two events.
• Expect 1-2 questions directly on governing bodies — the exam likes to ask which body governs a sport that is NOT cricket or football, such as BWF for Badminton or World Athletics for track events.
• Venue-based questions appear as: which stadium hosted the final of X tournament — focus on recent finals not older ones.
• The National Sports Day question (29 August) has appeared multiple times across RRB papers — treat it as a guaranteed one-mark gift.
• Questions on number of players in Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, and Polo are set as traps because aspirants revise cricket and football but ignore these — spend 2 minutes locking in the non-mainstream team sizes.