Sports Questions for SSC CHSL

Major Trophies and Tournaments

SSC CHSL loves asking which trophy belongs to which sport. Many aspirants mix up cricket trophies with football or hockey ones. Learn the sport-trophy pair as a single unit rather than memorising lists separately. Focus on trophies connected to India since these appear most often.

• Durand Cup, Santosh Trophy, Subroto Cup — all Football (Durand is oldest football tournament in Asia)
• Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy — all Cricket (domestic India)
• Dhyan Chand Trophy — Lifetime achievement in sports (not hockey tournament)
• Agha Khan Cup, Beighton Cup — Hockey
• Davis Cup — Tennis (men, team event); Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) — Women Tennis
• Thomas Cup — Badminton (men); Uber Cup — Badminton (women); Sudirman Cup — Mixed team

Olympic Games — Key Facts

Olympics questions in CHSL usually ask about host cities, India medal wins, or first achievements. Paris 2024 is the most recent and highly likely to appear. Remember that the Summer and Winter Olympics now alternate every two years instead of both being held in the same year.

• Paris 2024 Olympics: India won 6 medals — 1 Silver (Neeraj Chopra), 5 Bronze including Manu Bhaker (shooting)
• Manu Bhaker became first Indian woman to win two medals in a single Olympics edition (Paris 2024)
• Neeraj Chopra — first Indian to win gold in Athletics at Tokyo 2020
• Abhinav Bindra — India first individual Olympic gold (Beijing 2008, 10m Air Rifle)
• Los Angeles 2028 — next Summer Olympics host city
• Winter Olympics 2026 — Milan-Cortina, Italy

Cricket — Governing Bodies, Formats and Records

Cricket questions in CHSL focus on ICC tournaments, World Cup winners, and record holders. The governing body angle is popular: ICC for international, BCCI for India. Know recent World Cup results since exams closely follow current events.

• ICC — International Cricket Council, headquartered in Dubai
• India won ODI World Cup 2023 — No (lost to Australia in final); India won T20 World Cup 2024 — Yes (beat South Africa)
• Rohit Sharma led India to T20 World Cup 2024 victory in West Indies and USA
• Sachin Tendulkar — first and only player to score 100 international centuries
• Highest ODI score: 264 by Rohit Sharma vs Sri Lanka (2014)
• Test cricket longest format; pink ball used in Day-Night Tests

Hockey — India and International

India and hockey share a glorious history, making this a favourite CHSL topic. India won the most Olympic gold medals in hockey historically. Dhyan Chand is called the Wizard of Hockey and his birthday (29 August) is celebrated as National Sports Day in India.

• National Sports Day — 29 August (Dhyan Chand's birthday)
• India won bronze in Hockey at Tokyo 2020 (men) — first Olympic medal in 41 years
• India won bronze again at Paris 2024 Olympics (men's hockey)
• FIH — Federation Internationale de Hockey, international governing body
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award — highest sports honour in India (renamed from Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2021)
• Vandana Kataria — first Indian woman to score hat-trick in Olympic hockey

Badminton and Tennis

Badminton has become a high-priority topic because of India's global success. PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, and Kidambi Srikanth appear repeatedly. Tennis questions usually revolve around Grand Slams and their venues.

• Four Grand Slams: Australian Open (hard), French Open/Roland Garros (clay), Wimbledon (grass), US Open (hard)
• PV Sindhu — first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals; World Champion 2019
• Saina Nehwal — first Indian to win Olympic medal in Badminton (Bronze, London 2012)
• BWF — Badminton World Federation, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur
• Wimbledon: oldest and considered most prestigious Grand Slam, held at All England Club London
• Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon 2024 (men); Barbora Krejcikova won women

Sports Awards in India

Indian sports awards come up regularly. Remember the hierarchy: Khel Ratna is the highest, then Arjuna Award, then Dronacharya (for coaches), then Dhyan Chand Award (lifetime achievement). Year of establishment and for whom they are given is a standard question type.

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award — highest sports honour; given for spectacular performance
• Arjuna Award — recognises outstanding performance over four years
• Dronacharya Award — for coaches who produce medal-winning athletes
• Dhyan Chand Award — lifetime achievement in sports
• Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award — for adventure sports
• Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar — for corporates and organisations promoting sports

Football and Other Global Sports

FIFA World Cup and its host nations are standard questions. Other sports like chess, wrestling, boxing, and athletics also produce CHSL questions particularly around Indian achievers.

• FIFA World Cup 2022 — Qatar (first in Middle East); winner Argentina; Messi won Golden Ball
• FIFA World Cup 2026 — USA, Canada, Mexico (three-nation hosting)
• Viswanathan Anand — five-time World Chess Champion; Chess governed by FIDE
• Neeraj Chopra — World Athletics Championship gold 2023 (Budapest); Diamond League winner
• Vinesh Phogat — first Indian woman wrestler to reach Olympic final (Paris 2024); disqualified over weight
• Commonwealth Games 2022 — Birmingham UK; India finished 4th with 61 medals

• Confusing Durand Cup (football) with Dhyan Chand Trophy (sports achievement award) — the word Durand sounds hockey-ish but it is football
• Mixing Thomas Cup (men badminton) with Uber Cup (women) — remember Thomas is a man's name, so men's team
• Saying India won ODI World Cup 2023 — India lost the final to Australia; do not confuse with T20 World Cup 2024 which India did win
• Dhyan Chand Award is a lifetime achievement award, not a hockey tournament or an award only for hockey players
• Forgetting that Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was renamed to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna in 2021 — both names may appear in options as a trap

• TUDS for Badminton team cups — Thomas (men), Uber (women), sudirman (mixed), Doubles logic: T for men Think Thomas, U for Uber = ladies Uber cool
• RaDDT for Indian sports awards hierarchy: Ratna (highest), Arjuna, Dronacharya (coach), Dhyan Chand (lifetime) — Remember RADiant DiamonD Trophy
• 29 August = National Sports Day = Dhyan Chand birthday — 29 sounds like cricket score 2+9=11 but think CHAND rhymes with GRAND, grand celebration on 29th
• For Grand Slams surface: A-F-W-U = Australia Hard, France Clay, Wimbledon Grass, US Hard — All Famous Wimbledon USA

• SSC CHSL 2023 and 2024 papers asked directly about Paris Olympics medal winners — always revise the most recent Olympics thoroughly before your exam date
• Award-trophy confusion is a favourite distractor in CHSL — options often mix cricket trophies with football ones; always verify the sport first, then the trophy
• Questions on governing body headquarters are common: ICC in Dubai, BWF in Kuala Lumpur, FIFA in Zurich, IOC in Lausanne — one question per paper on this pattern
• CHSL rarely asks deep statistical records; it prefers firsts and mosts — first Indian to, most medals, youngest ever — focus on those superlatives
• Current affairs integration is high in CHSL sports section — events from the 12 months before the exam date are most likely; never skip newspaper sports headlines in your last-month revision