Sports Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Former world billiards champion Manoj Kothari passed away at 67 in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu due to a massive cardiac arrest. Kothari won the World Billiards Championship in 1990. He was a 16-time State Champion in his career. In 2005, he received the Dhyan Chand Award, India’s highest lifetime achievement award in sports. In 2025, he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India.

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National record-holder and Asian Games gold-winning Indian middle-distance runner Jinson Johnson announced his retirement at age 34. He is from Kerala and specializes in 800 metres and 1500 metres events. His career highlight was winning the 1500 metres gold at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games with a time of 3:44.72 minutes. He also won a silver medal in the 800 metres at the same Asian Games. In 2018, Johnson broke Sriram Singh’s 42-year-old men’s 800 metres national record at the National Inter-State Championship in Guwahati with 1:45.65 minutes.

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The India Open Badminton tournament has begun on 13th January at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi. Two-time Olympic medallist Pusarla Venkata (PV) Sindhu is leading India’s challenge, returning after injury and a tough 2025 season. Malvika Bansod and young Tanvi Sharma are competing in women’s singles, while Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand headline women’s doubles. In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen and Ayush Shetty are facing each other in the opening round, with Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy also in action. World number three pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are competing in men’s doubles, aiming to reclaim their 2022 title.

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The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) launched the National Olympic Education and Development Programme (NOEDP) and reactivated the National Olympic Academy (NOA) to strengthen India’s Olympic movement. The decisions were approved in January meetings held in Ahmedabad. NOEDP is a national framework for structured Olympic education and development across all levels of sport. It will be implemented with National Sports Federations (NSFs) and State Olympic Associations (SOAs). The NOA will serve as the central institution for Olympic education, research, and athlete development. It will support athletes in education, leadership, values, and career transition.

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Recently, 21-year-old Aaryan Varshney became India’s 92nd Grandmaster by securing his final norm at the Andranik Margaryan Memorial Tournament in Armenia. He achieved the Grandmaster (GM) title with a round to spare, adding to India’s growing chess legacy. Aaryan was trained entirely at home by his father, Gaurav Varshney, a physics teacher, without any professional coach. He began serious chess training at age seven, focusing on game analysis and practical play. His first rating was 1261 in 2014, rising above 2300 within four years. He won the National Under-13 Championship in 2018. He earned the International Master (IM) title in 2024 through open tournaments.

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Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai reunited at the Australian Open to win the women’s doubles tennis title. The Belgian–Chinese pair defeated Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 7-6(4), 6-4. This was their ninth Grand Slam doubles title together in just their seventh event as a pair. Mertens now has six Grand Slam titles, including three Australian Opens, while Zhang has three. Mertens secured her 40th week as World Number One in doubles. In mixed doubles, Olivia Gadecki and John Peers defended the Australian Open title, ending a 37-year gap.

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Indian teenage squash player Anahat Singh became the youngest Asian to enter the PSA World Top 20, breaking Nicol David’s record. She achieved this after winning her first PSA Bronze-level title at the Washington Fire Open. In the tournament, she defeated world number 17 in the quarterfinal, world number 23 in the semifinal, and world number 10 Georgina Kennedy in the final (12-10, 11-5, 11-7).

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Olympian Esha Singh won gold in the women’s individual 10 metre air pistol event at the Asian Rifle and Pistol Championship in Delhi. The 21-year-old scored 239.8 in the final, winning her second senior Asian Championship individual gold. Cheng Yen-Ching of Chinese Taipei won silver, while Yu Ai-Wen claimed bronze. Esha, Manu Bhaker, and Suruchi Singh won team gold in women’s 10 metre air pistol with 1,726 points. Vietnam won team silver and Chinese Taipei took bronze. In men’s 10 metre air pistol, world champion Samrat Rana won bronze.

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On 4 February 2026, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected Soraya Aghaei as its first female member from Iran. She became the 107th IOC member through a 95–2 vote and is the youngest current representative at 30 years of age. She is only the third Iranian International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and the first from Iran since 2004. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is an exclusive body of former athletes, sports leaders, royals, diplomats, industrialists, and cultural figures. Aghaei joined the IOC during the presidency of Kirsty Coventry, the first female IOC President in 132 years.

Notes:
India’s Arjun Babuta and Elavenil Valarivan won gold in the 10 metre air rifle mixed team event at the Asian Rifle and Pistol Championship 2026 in New Delhi. The Indian pair set a new world record and championship record by scoring 505 points in the final. They successfully defended their Asian title with this performance. Republic of Korea’s Kim Woorim and Kwon Eunji won silver with 501 points. Japan’s Naoya Okada and Misaki Nobata secured bronze with 437.9 points. The previous world record of 502.7 was set by a German pair at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Grand Prix in Slovenia.