Sports quiz of the week: French Open, Stanley Cup and surprise results

1. Italy’s Jasmine Paolini will play Iga Swiatek in the French Open women’s final. What was Paolini’s previous best display at Roland Garros?

   1. First round

   2. Second round

   3. Fourth round

   4. This is her debut

2. Bath face Northampton in the Premiership Rugby final at Twickenham. How many Premiership finals have the two clubs won between them?

   1. None

   2. One

   3. Two

   4. Five

3. In entirely expected transfer news, Kylian Mbappé joined Real Madrid this week. He currently wears No 10 on his shirt for France, and wore No 7 at PSG. Which number is he reportedly set to take in Spain?

   1. No 9

   2. No 14

   3. No 17

   4. No 29

4. This year’s Stanley Cup will feature the biggest-ever distance between the two finalists. Which teams are involved?

   1. Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers

   2. Montreal Canadiens and San José Sharks

   3. Anaheim Ducks and Winnipeg Jets

   4. Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks

5. The T20 World Cup is under way, being played across the United States and Caribbean. Which two teams have won their first-ever men’s T20 World Cup matches at this tournament?

   1. Canada and Papua New Guinea

   2. Ireland and Scotland

   3. Namibia and Netherlands

   4. United States and Uganda

6. Gareth Southgate has announced his final England squad for Euro 2024. Which club has contributed the most players to his 26-man line-up?

   1. Arsenal

   2. Chelsea

   3. Crystal Palace

   4. Manchester City

7. ‘The attention I’ve received is a little surreal,’ said golfer Charley Hull this week after going viral for doing what?

   1. Proposing to her partner on the 18th green at the US Women’s Open

   2. Hitting a water-skimming hole-in-one during a practice round

   3. Smoking a cigarette while signing autographs for fans

   4. Appearing as a celebrity bombshell on Love Island

8. Euro 2024 kicks off next Friday as Germany face Scotland in Munich. Who are the only team of the 24 qualifiers making their debut at a Euro finals?

   1. Slovenia

   2. Slovakia

   3. Georgia

   4. Albania

9. Complete this tennis sequence, going back to June 2022: Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic …

   1. Jannik Sinner

   2. Casper Ruud

   3. Alexander Zverev

   4. Rafael Nadal

10. Women’s Euro 2025 qualifying continued this week, but which two teams have already joined hosts Switzerland in booking their places?

    1. England and Scotland

    2. Spain and Germany

    3. France and Sweden

    4. Netherlands and Norway

11. Baseball now, and in the Division III College World Series, Birmingham-Southern lost 11-10 to Wisconsin-Whitewater. What was remarkable about their run to the big game?

    1. Injuries left them with only nine fit players for the playoffs

    2. The team was made up entirely of faculty staff members

    3. Ten of the eleven starting players have the same first name and surname

    4. The college no longer exists after closing during the playoffs

12. Why were Metz outraged after losing their Ligue 1 promotion playoff to Saint-Étienne?

    1. The winning goalscorer, Ibrahima Wadji, was on loan at St-Étienne from Metz

    2. The backup match official, who had to replace one of the assistants, was born in St-Étienne

    3. The celebrating St-Étienne players damaged ceiling panels in the away dressing room

    4. Metz were denied a crucial goal by a defender’s handball which went unnoticed by VAR

13. In the US, legislators are trying to persuade the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs to relocate – to which state?

    1. Alaska

    2. Hawaii

    3. Kansas

    4. Oklahoma

14. Fiji’s Sitiveni Rabuka won a bronze medal in shot put at the Oceania athletics championships this week. What is his day job?

    1. He is the Fiji rugby sevens head coach

    2. He is the Fijian prime minister

    3. He is Fiji’s most successful recording artist

    4. He is Fiji’s only train driver

15. Finally, which of these events occurred at the Canadian Open golf last Sunday?

    1. Robert MacIntyre won the event with his father, Dougie, as his caddie

    2. A spectator helped carry CT Pan’s bag after his caddie was injured

    3. Shane Lowry carded two under par after carrying his own bag

    4. All of the above

Solutions

1:B – The No 12 seed had fallen at the second-round stage three times before in Paris; her best grand slam performance before this tournament was a fourth-round place at the Australian Open in January., 2:B – Northampton beat Saracens in the 2014 final. Bath’s six Premiership titles all came before the final was introduced in 2003; they have lost their two appearances in the title decider since then, in 2004 and 2015., 3:A – Mbappé has worn Nos 14, 17 and 29 during his career but will take the vacant No 9, according to Le Parisien. He could move to No 10 next season if Luka Modric leaves the Bernabéu., 4:A – The Panthers’ home, Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, is 2,541 miles away from Rogers Place, home of the Oilers. Driving between the venues would take around 45 hours., 5:D – The co-hosts beat Canada in the opening game (and then shocked Pakistan in their second match), while Uganda beat Papua New Guinea on their tournament debut., 6:C – Palace are the only club with four players in the squad – Dean Henderson, Marc Guéhi, Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze. Arsenal and City have three each, with Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Man Utd and Newcastle each sending two players., 7:C – ‘I’d rather be known for playing great golf … but sometimes crazy grabs the headlines,’ said Hull after a clip of her puffing on a cigarette caused a stir on social media., 8:C – The Crusaders booked their place via the playoffs, beating Greece on penalties. Slovenia (2000), Slovakia (2016) and Albania (also 2016) have each qualified once before., 9:A – The Italian will take over the world No 1 ranking on Monday, the fourth player to reach the summit in the last two years. Djokovic and Alcaraz have traded places at the top seven times since January 2023., 10:B – Spain and Germany sealed qualification with their fourth wins in four games. England are in a battle with France and Sweden to avoid the play-offs in their group., 11:D – Birmingham-Southern, a liberal arts college in Alabama, closed its doors last week – but the team representing them kept their playoff streak going before losing in the final match., 12:C – Metz posted a picture of the damage on X, writing ‘congratulations on promotion, and thanks for your visit’. St-Étienne apologised for the ‘clearly accidental’ damage caused., 13:C – The Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium home is on the Missouri side of the city – but state legislators in Kansas hope a tax dispute might persuade them to move a few miles west, across the state border., 14:B – Rabuka, a former soldier who was prime minister from 1992 to 1999 before being re-elected in 2022, is 75 years old; he won bronze in the over-65s category., 15:D – After CT Pan’s caddie tripped and hurt himself on Saturday, playing partner Shane Lowry carried his own bag to let his caddie assist Pan – and spectator Paul Emerson also helped the Taiwanese player out for a couple of holes.

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   A decent effort. Thanks for playing

2. 0 and above.

   Better luck next time …

3. 12 and above.

   That’s an excellent score, well played