Sports quiz of the week: world records, wrong turns and wild scenes

A punter at Cheltenham, Oscar Piastri and Port Vale player Ben Waine. Composite: PA, Getty

1. India won the T20 World Cup in style, beating New Zealand in the final with a record score. Which of these statements about India’s performance at the tournament is not true?

   1. They are the first team to win the tournament as hosts

   2. They are the the first team to win the tournament three times

   3. They are the first team to retain the title

   4. They won every match at the tournament

2. 

   After 32 straight defeats, Italy have finally beaten England. Which team in the Six Nations have they not beaten?

   1. Ireland

   2. Wales

   3. France

   4. They have beaten them all

3. It has been a big week for Italy. They beat England in the Six Nations and they beat …

   1. … USA in the World Baseball Classic

   2. … Brazil in the Futsal World Cup

   3. … Japan at the Sumo World Championship

   4. … China at the Table Tennis World Cup

4. 

   The Ukrainian biathlete Maksym Murashkovskyi won a silver medal at the Paralympics. Who – or what – did he credit for his success, saying he has used it/them as a “psychologist, coach and, sometimes, as a doctor”?

   1. His wife

   2. His dog

   3. Chat GPT

   4. Wikipedia

5. There was an unusual incident in the Preußen Münster v Hertha Berlin match in the German second tier over the weekend. Towards the end of the first half, the referee was asked to check the VAR monitor to see if Hertha should be awarded a penalty. What happened next?

   1. The Münster manager stood in front of the screen so the referee could not watch the relay

   2. The referee held up a red card that had the words ‘No to VAR’ written on it

   3. A masked fan jumped out of the stand and unplugged the monitor

   4. The Hertha player involved told the referee he had dived – and was promptly shown a second yellow card

6. 

   Port Vale have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954. Which famous musician has invested £250,000 in the club and was appointed their president two years ago?

   1. Robbie Williams

   2. Snoop Dogg

   3. Fatboy Slim

   4. Elton John

7. Why was the Atletico Madrid v Real Sociedad match in La Liga on Saturday paused briefly?

   1. The players stood still for two minutes in the first half to show they supported Spain’s decision not to get involved in the Iran war

   2. An injured pigeon was lying on the pitch after being hit by the ball

   3. The Madrid marathon passed through the stadium during the match

   4. The temperature hit 35 degrees (a new record high for March in Spain) so the game was paused for a drinks break

8. 

   George Russell won the first race of the new F1 season in Melbourne. Why did the Australian driver Oscar Piastri not even start the race?

   1. He has been stuck in his house in Dubai since the war in Iran began

   2. He is injured (he sneezed so hard he damaged his back)

   3. He crashed on the way to the starting line

   4. It was his birthday and his contract stipulates he always has the day off work

9. Cruzeiro beat Atlético Mineiro 1-0 in their state cup final in Brazil on Sunday. What did the referee do after the match?

   1. He declared that he was a Cruzeiro fan and that the match should be replayed

   2. He issued 23 red cards – 12 to Cruzeiro players and 11 to Atlético players

   3. He admitted he had made a few bad mistakes in the game and Cruzeiro agreed to a rematch

   4. He announced his retirement from refereeing, saying he was “done with all the diving, cheating and backchat in the sport”

10. 

    Which of these is not a race at the Cheltenham Festival?

    1. The Champion Hurdle

    2. The Gold Cup

    3. The Princess Diana Champion Chase

    4. The Stayers’ Hurdle

11. Nathan Martin won the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday. What made his victory remarkable?

    1. It was his first marathon

    2. He won the race by 0.18 seconds

    3. He had won the Mexico City Marathon the previous day

    4. He took a wrong turn and ran an extra mile by mistake

12. 

    Staying on the subject of athletics, Jacob Kiplimo set a new world record in the half marathon in Lisbon on Sunday. What was his time?

    1. 45 minutes and 55 seconds

    2. 51 minutes and 43 seconds

    3. 57 minutes and 20 seconds

    4. 69 minutes and 54 seconds

13. If it was Vicarage Road in 2021, Plough Lane in 2022, Selhurst Park in 2023, Molineux in 2024 and Pride Park in 2025, where is it on Sunday afternoon?

    1. Villa Park

    2. Ashton Gate

    3. Elland Road

    4. Bramall Lane

14. 

    Bam Adebayo scored 83 points for the Miami Heat in their 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. Who is the one player to have scored more points in an NBA game?

    1. Michael Jordan

    2. Kobe Bryant

    3. Stephen Curry

    4. Wilt Chamberlain

15. A Barcelona fan missed their match against Newcastle on Tuesday night after he travelled to the wrong stadium. Rather than going to St James’ Park in Newcastle, he travelled 366 miles in the wrong direction and turned up at the similarly named St James Park. Which team plays there?

    1. Exeter City

    2. Plymouth Argyle

    3. Tranmere Rovers

    4. Crewe Alexandra

Solutions

1:D - India lost to South Africa in the Super 8s., 2:D - Italy have beaten Scotland nine times, Wales five times, France twice, Ireland once, and England once., 3:A - Both teams have made it to the quarter-finals; Italy will take on Puerto Rico and USA play Canada., 4:C - “For the past six months, I have been training with ChatGPT,” he said. “It was a huge volume of all of my training. I believe in it. It is a revolutionary technology.”, 5:C - VAR is not very popular at Münster. Their fans also unveiled a banner that read: “Pull the plug on VAR.” And their captain, Jorrit Hendrix, seemed to support the fan’s protest, saying: “It shows how the fans experience things and that they want to do everything to win the game. If they can do something to influence it, they do that. I completely understand it and think it’s a good thing.” , 6:A - Williams is a big Port Vale fan. He only agreed to record the theme tune for the video game Fifa 2000 on the condition that Port Vale were be included in the game. The other three have also invested in clubs: Snoop Dogg in Swansea City, Fatboy Slim in Brighton and John in Watford. , 7:B - The Atletico defender José Giménez picked up the pigeon and escorted it off the pitch to safety. Speaking after the game, he said: “I asked the referee what was happening. He told me it was because of the pigeon and I said: ‘Seriously? You stopped the match because of the pigeon?’ I picked it up. I don’t know if there’s supposed to be a protocol. I hope it wasn’t seriously hurt.” , 8:C - Not the best start to the season for Piastri, who won seven races last year. , 9:B - There was a huge brawl in the last few minutes of the match. No one was sent off during the game, but 23 players were issued with red cards after the final whistle. The world record for red cards in a game is 36 – from the match between Atletico Claypole and Victoriano Arenas in Argentina in 2011. , 10:C - The Champion Chase is not named after Princess Diana but rather the Queen Mother, who was almost as fond of horses as she was of drinking and spending money., 11:B - It is the closest finish in the history of the LA marathon. The 36-year-old – a substitute teacher and cross-country coach at his local high school – made an incredible burst over the last kilometre to catch, and overtake, the Kenyan runner Michael Kimani Kamau. , 12:C - The Ugandan runner took 10 seconds off the previous record. , 13:B - Chelsea and Manchester United are off to Bristol for the Women’s League Cup final on Sunday. The women’s FA Cup final is played at Wembley but the League Cup final travels around the grounds. , 14:D - Chamberlain’s record of scoring 100 points in an NBA game has stood since 1962. “It’s Wilt, me, then Kobe, which sounds crazy,” said Adebayo. “It’s a pretty emotional moment.”, 15:A - Exeter staff took pity on him and gave him a ticket for their League One match against Lincoln. “My guess is he put St James Park in his phone and then just followed the directions from there,” said a member of the Exeter staff. “He was pretty gutted and a bit embarrassed. So we sorted him out a ticket and he got to watch a game at the real St James Park. He’d be welcome back any time.”

Scores

1. 1 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next week.

2. 2 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next week.

3. 3 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next week.

4. 4 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next week.

5. 5 and above.

   Ah well. Better luck next week.

6. 6 and above.

   Not bad. Not bad at all.

7. 7 and above.

   Not bad. Not bad at all.

8. 8 and above.

   That's a fine score. Well played

9. 9 and above.

   That's a fine score. Well played

10. 10 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played

11. 11 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played

12. 12 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played. Have a great weekend

13. 13 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played. Have a great weekend

14. 14 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played. Have a great weekend

15. 0 and above.

    Ah well. Better luck next week.

16. 15 and above.

    That's a superb score. Well played. Have a great weekend