Q: On March 27, 1871, the first international match of this sport took place in Edinburgh. Scotland defeated England 1-0 and 4,000 people were in attendance for this historic moment of this close-contact sport whose for which the rules came into existence only 26 years earlier ago. The sport gets its name from the school in England where the rules were written. What is the name of the school and consequently the sport played by two teams of 15 players each with an oval ball?
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A: Rugby
Q: In 1920 a leading sports magazine wrote a letter to the American governing body of a particular sport with a suggestion that a team of 12 professionals be chosen to play in England as, till then, no American had ever won it. They got Samuel Ryder, a wealthy businessman to sponsor it, naming the tournament after him. This is the start of a now famous biennial tournament in that sport which alternates between British and the U.S. venues. Which sport is this for which Ryder donated a gold trophy?
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A: Golf
Q: In 1989, Geet Sethi became the only person in the history of his sport to have two independent world records in two separate versions of his sport. He scored a maximum (147) in a game of the first sport and a 1000+ break in competition in the other version. What are these two sports which laymen routinely mistake for each other?
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A: Snooker and Billiards
Q: This is a game which was created in Brazil in 1965 and combines the field rules of two of its most popular sports. This sport apparently started on the beaches in Rio de Janeiro because playing the first sport was banned, but courts for the second sport were open. In the game, players do not use their hands; and they multi-touch kick a ball across a net on the sands. The name of the sport comes from the first words of the parent sports. What is the its name of this sport?
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A: Footvolley
Q: This is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent cannot do the same without it touching the ground twice. Some version of this sport has been recorded throughout history, with the furthest going back to the Aztecs. Racquetball was created when people started using racquets to play this sport. What is the very simple name of this historic sport?
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A: Handball
Q: Bandy is a form of seasonal hockey which is played with some rules from soccer such as two halves of 45 minutes each and 11 players in each team. As in hockey, the players use a small ball and bowed sticks. Supposed to have originated in Russia, the name of this sport comes from ‘Bander’ which is Middle French for “to strike back and forth”. Known as winter football, on what surface is Bandy played?
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A: Ice
Q: This sport, often declared the healthiest sport to play, is thought to have originated in Fleet Street prison, when prisoners used to hit balls off the walls with racquets. This was then adapted by schoolboys at Harrow school, who used a punctured ball and discovered that this flattened on impact and bounced off, leading to a greater variety of possible shots. It is believed that the name of this sport comes from the sound of this impact or what happened to the ball upon impact on the wall. What is this sport?
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A: Squash
Q: This is a fast-paced sport where two teams of ten 10 players compete against with each other on a field. The sport is played with fuzzy yellow balls and you score by hitting a ball into a goal defended by a goalkeeper who can deflect the ball only with a racquet. This sport is also known by another name, which combines two sports, the first from which the equipment and the second from which the rules are taken. What is this sport’s name?
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A: Tennis Polo
Q: In the book, Orbital Resonance, by John Barnes, the climax involves a variable-gravity sport where you have multiple teams and multiple mobile goals in microgravity. It is based on an actual team sport where players use a stick with a small net at the end to carry, pass, catch, and shoot the ball into the goal. The name of the game is supposed to have come from the French word for ‘The Stick’. The name of fictional version is a portmanteau of the fact it is played in air and the latter part of the actual sport. What is the name of this sport invented by John Barnes?
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A: Aerocrosse (Aero + Lacrosse)
Q: This annual football match is contested between the Department of Peace Studies of the University of Bradford and the Department of War Studies of King’s College London, both being academic, regional and ideological rivals. The tournament is named after an author of a certain work, which was also the original trophy, which that was retired after 2011 due to its fragile state and was replaced with a new one. Name the tournament and what is the trophy?
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A: Tolstoy Cup, a framed copy of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
