CDS (I) 2022 General Knowledge · Question 114 of 120

Correct — A, Manipur. Manipur won the Senior Women's National Football Championship played in Kerala in 2021, beating Railways in the final on 9 December 2021. The match finished level at one goal each and Manipur took it 2-1 in the penalty shoot-out, retaining the title as defending champions and taking their tally to twenty-one titles. That running total is the fact worth carrying: a side going into a final as holder of twenty previous titles is the safe pick in any question about this competition, and Manipur is that side.

• (b)Railways — Railways reached the final and lost it on penalties. Departmental teams like Railways are consistently strong in Indian domestic sport because they employ leading players, which makes this the closest wrong answer in the set.
• (c)West Bengal — West Bengal is a football stronghold in the men's game and in the Santosh Trophy, but it did not win this women's championship.
• (d)Odisha — Odisha has invested heavily in hosting and supporting Indian football and athletics, which makes the name plausible, but it was not the champion of this edition.

The Senior Women's National Football Championship is the All India Football Federation's premier inter-State competition for women, run on the same State-and-department basis as the Santosh Trophy is for men. Teams represent States, Union Territories and institutional sides such as Railways. It is the leading national competition for women at State level, and Manipur's long run of titles in it is the single most useful fact about the tournament.

Sports questions in this paper reward knowing the pattern rather than the year. In Indian women's football at State level the pattern is Manipur, and where Manipur is not the answer the answer is usually Railways or Odisha — which is exactly the option set here. Two safeguards help. First, distinguish this championship from the Santosh Trophy, which is the men's inter-State competition and where West Bengal has the long record. Second, remember that departmental teams compete alongside States, which is why Railways appears in a list otherwise made of States and is not a misprint. The 2021 final, decided on penalties after a one-all draw, was close; the title run behind it was not.

• Manipur won the Senior Women's National Football Championship staged in 2021, beating Railways in the final.
• The final was played on 9 December 2021 in Kerala and finished one-all, Manipur winning 2-1 in the penalty shoot-out.
• Manipur were the defending champions and the win was their twenty-first title in the competition.
• The championship is run by the All India Football Federation and is contested by States, Union Territories and institutional sides such as Railways.
• The men's equivalent inter-State competition is the Santosh Trophy.

• Confusing this championship with the Santosh Trophy, which is the men's inter-State competition.
• Assuming a list of States cannot contain a department. Railways competes as a team in its own right.
• Reading the close final as evidence of a close competition. Manipur went into it holding twenty previous titles.

As a who-won-this-tournament item, or as a match between competitions and the sports or categories they belong to.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Santosh Trophy is contested in which one of the following sports?

  • (a)Hockey
  • (b)Football
  • (c)Volleyball
  • (d)Kabaddi

  Answer(b) Football — it is the premier inter-State competition for men, the counterpart of the Senior Women's National Football Championship.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is the oldest football tournament in Asia?

  • (a)Federation Cup
  • (b)Santosh Trophy
  • (c)Durand Cup
  • (d)Rovers Cup

  Answer(c) Durand Cup — first played in 1888 and still contested, which makes it the oldest football competition in Asia.