SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 21 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 13 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

What critical factor distinguished Vijay Kumar’s performance in the men’s 25m rapid pistol event at the London 2012 Olympics?

(a)He set a new world record in the qualification round.
(b)He won gold by defeating Cuba’s Leuris Pupo in the final round.
(c)He was the first Indian shooter to qualify for the finals.
(d)He outshot a tied competitor in the sixth round to reach the final round.

Answer

Why

Correct — D. In the London 2012 final, the shooter with the fewest hits dropped out after each series from the fourth on. Vijay Kumar and China's Ding Feng were level on 24 hits after six series.

In the next series Vijay hit 4 to Ding's 3, knocking him out and reaching the two-man last series against Leuris Pupo → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
He set a new world record in the qualification round. — The qualification world record at London 2012 was set by Russia's Alexei Klimov, with 592. Vijay Kumar qualified fourth, with 585.
(b)
He won gold by defeating Cuba’s Leuris Pupo in the final round. — Leuris Pupo of Cuba won gold with 34 hits. Vijay Kumar took silver with 30, so he lost to Pupo in the last series rather than beating him.
(c)
He was the first Indian shooter to qualify for the finals. — Indians had shot in Olympic finals before: Rajyavardhan Rathore took silver in 2004 and Abhinav Bindra gold in 2008. At London itself, Gagan Narang won bronze days before Vijay's final.

Concept

London 2012 used a new hit-or-miss final for the 25 m rapid fire pistol. A shot scoring 9.7 or better counted as a hit, and each series was five shots.

The six finalists started from zero. From the fourth series on, the lowest total was eliminated after every series, until two shooters fired the eighth and last series for gold.

The option says the tie was broken 'in the sixth round'. By Olympedia's series scores, the two were level after the sixth series and Vijay pulled ahead in the seventh.

The wording is loose, but option (d) is the only one that describes something that happened.

Key facts

Vijay Kumar won silver in the men's 25 m rapid fire pistol at London 2012.
Leuris Pupo of Cuba won that event's gold, and Ding Feng of China its bronze.
The 2012 final used hit-or-miss scoring, with a hit counted at 9.7 or better.
Gagan Narang won bronze in the 10 m air rifle at the same Games.

Study next

India's medal winners at London 2012Abhinav Bindra's 10 m air rifle gold at Beijing 2008Olympic pistol events: 10 m air pistol and 25 m rapid fire pistol

Common traps

Picking option (b) because you remember a final against Pupo: Vijay lost that final and took silver.
Picking option (c) because Vijay's medal was memorable: Rathore, Bindra and Narang had all reached Olympic finals before him.

Here an Olympic medal is asked through the detail of how it was won. India's Olympic shooting is also asked at 9 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.15, which keys London 2012 for Gagan Narang's bronze, and at 26 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.21, which keys Beijing 2008 for Abhinav Bindra's gold.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Current events — all 156 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.