Sports Current Affairs MCQs

Notes:
Asian Squash Federation named Abhay Singh as Men’s Player of the Year 2025. Anahat Singh won the top honour in the girls (junior) category. The Indian boys team won the Men’s Team Award after securing bronze at the World Junior Team Championships 2025. Previously, Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won ASF awards in 2022.

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South African player Rassie van der Dussen has announced his retirement from international cricket at the age of 35, ending a successful career as a dependable white-ball batter for South Africa national cricket team. He debuted late at 29 in a T20I against Zimbabwe and went on to play 18 Tests, 71 ODIs, and 57 T20Is. His strongest format was ODIs, where he scored 2657 runs at an average above 50, making him second only to AB de Villiers among South Africans. He was a key player during the 2019 Cricket World Cup and became a regular middle-order batter.

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Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the 87th Inter-State Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championship 2026 in Dehradun. The event was held at the Multipurpose Sports Hall, Parade Ground, marking Uttarakhand’s first time hosting this national-level tournament. Uttarakhand is emerging as a sports hub, with strong performance in the 38th National Games (103 medals).

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Indian players Arjun Singh and Aditya Singh won gold in men’s doubles 5.0 category at the US Open Pickleball Championship 2026 held in Naples, USA. They defeated J. Meode and W. Lin 9-11, 11-2, 11-7 in the final after a strong comeback. This marks Arjun Singh’s third gold at the US Open and second with his brother Aditya. Panth Thakkar and Atharva Sheth secured silver in men’s doubles 4.5 category. The event marks India’s first participation under the Indian Pickleball Association affiliation.

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R Vaishali became the first Indian woman to win the Women’s Candidates Tournament (2026). She secured the title by defeating Kateryna Lagno in the final round, finishing with 8.5/14 points. Vaishali will now challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Chess Championship. Her victory marks a historic milestone for Indian chess, following Gukesh Dommaraju’s earlier success in the Open Candidates.

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Viktor Axelsen announced his retirement from professional badminton on 15 April 2026 due to recurring back injuries. He is a two-time Olympic gold medallist (2020, 2024) and among the greatest players in badminton history. Axelsen became only the second player after Lin Dan to successfully defend an Olympic title. His career highlights include World Championship titles (2017, 2022) and All England titles (2020, 2022).

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India won gold medal in women’s kabaddi and silver in men’s kabaddi at the Asian Beach Games 2026 held in Sanya. The Indian women’s team defeated Sri Lanka 47–31 in the final to win the gold medal. This is India’s first gold medal in the current edition of the games. The Indian men’s team lost to Iran 31–44 and secured the silver medal. The event is organised by the Olympic Council of Asia. In the 2016 edition, India won 24 medals (2 gold, 4 silver, 18 bronze).

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Indian hockey player Gurbax Singh Grewal, an Olympic bronze medallist, passed away at the age of 84 in Zirakpur near Chandigarh. He was part of India’s bronze medal-winning team at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He had the rare distinction of representing India alongside his brother Balbir Singh Grewal at the same Olympics. After his playing career, he served as a senior sports officer with Western Railways. He contributed to talent identification and promotion of hockey players, especially from Rajasthan.

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A seven-year-old boy from Jharkhand has become the youngest swimmer to cross the Palk Strait. Ishank Singh completed the 29-kilometre stretch between Sri Lanka and India. He swam from Talaimannar to Dhanushkodi. He completed the swim in 9 hours and 50 minutes despite strong currents and rough seas. The achievement was recognised by the Universal Records Forum. The event was part of a campaign named “Mission Samandar”. His feat highlights exceptional endurance and determination at a very young age.

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India hosted the 2026 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This is the first time in 44 years that India is hosting the Asian Weightlifting Championships. The tournament is held from 11 May to 17 May 2026. Around 180 athletes from 28 countries will participate in the event. The championship is important for qualification for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. India, China, and Sri Lanka have the largest squads with 16 lifters each.