UPPSC 2022 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 147 of 150

Correct — A, Both 1 and 2. Read the printed options carefully in this paper, because the usual UPSC ordering is not used: here (a) is 'Both 1 and 2', (b) is 'Only 1', (c) is 'Neither 1 nor 2' and (d) is 'Only 2'. Statement 1 is correct — the championships were played at Salsomaggiore Terme in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, from 27 March to 9 April 2022, about two months before this paper was taken on 12 June 2022. Statement 2 is also correct — the Indian senior team won the silver medal in the d'Orsi Senior Trophy, losing the final to Poland, and it was India's first medal, indeed India's first appearance in a final, in the history of the World Bridge Team Championships. The team was led by playing captain R. Krishnan and included Subrata Saha, Sukamal Das, Ashok Goel, Anil Padhye and Rajesh Dalal. One point of book-keeping worth knowing: this event is formally the 2021 World Bridge Team Championships, postponed and played in 2022, and it bundled four separate competitions — the 45th Bermuda Bowl (won by Switzerland), the 23rd Venice Cup, the 11th d'Orsi Senior Trophy and the 2nd Wuhan Cup. The '45th' in the stem is the Bermuda Bowl edition number; India's medal came in the seniors' event within the same championships. As of the June-2022 exam this was India's first such medal; this card does not track later editions.

• (b)Only 1 — It accepts the venue but rejects the medal. Statement 2 is also true: India took silver in the d'Orsi Senior Trophy, beaten in the final by Poland, and it was the country's first medal at a World Bridge Team Championship. Rejecting statement 2 is the error of a candidate who remembers that the event was in Italy but not that India finished on the podium.
• (c)Neither 1 nor 2 — Both statements are correct, so a blanket rejection cannot stand. The championships were held at Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy, 27 March to 9 April 2022, and India won the silver medal in the seniors' event there.
• (d)Only 2 — It accepts the medal but rejects the venue. Italy is right — Salsomaggiore Terme, a spa town in the province of Parma, hosted the event. A candidate might doubt statement 1 because bridge championships move between continents, but for this edition Italy is correct.

Contract bridge is a card game played worldwide under the World Bridge Federation, whose flagship team event is the World Bridge Team Championships. Several trophies are contested at the same meeting: the Bermuda Bowl for open teams, the Venice Cup for women's teams, the d'Orsi Senior Trophy for seniors, and the Wuhan Cup for mixed teams. The edition in question was scheduled for 2021, postponed, and played at Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy, from 27 March to 9 April 2022; Switzerland won the Bermuda Bowl. India had never previously reached a final at these championships, so the senior team's run to the d'Orsi final, ending in a loss to Poland, produced the country's first medal in the event.

Two habits solve current-affairs items like this one. The first is to read the printed options rather than assume the standard code — in this paper 'Only 1' sits at (b) and 'Both 1 and 2' at (a), which is not the UPSC arrangement, and a candidate working from muscle memory can select the right meaning under the wrong letter. The second is to anchor the item to the exam date. The paper was taken on 12 June 2022, so 'the 45th World Bridge Championship' means the event that had concluded that April, and a statement about India's 'first' silver is a claim about the record up to that date. Sports current affairs are also where the phrase 'for the first time' does the real work: examiners rarely ask who won, they ask whether a result was a first, so keep track of firsts — first medal, first final, first gold — rather than of scorelines.

• The championships were held at Salsomaggiore Terme, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, from 27 March to 9 April 2022 — about two months before the UPPSC 2022 prelims on 12 June 2022.
• India won silver in the d'Orsi Senior Trophy, losing the final to Poland — the country's first medal and first final at a World Bridge Team Championship.
• The Indian senior team was R. Krishnan (playing captain), Subrata Saha, Sukamal Das, Ashok Goel, Anil Padhye and Rajesh Dalal.
• The meeting was formally the 2021 World Bridge Team Championships, postponed to 2022, and comprised the 45th Bermuda Bowl, the 23rd Venice Cup, the 11th d'Orsi Senior Trophy and the 2nd Wuhan Cup.
• Switzerland won the Bermuda Bowl, the open team event, at the same championships.

• Assuming the familiar option order in a two-statement item. In this paper (a) is 'Both 1 and 2' and (b) is 'Only 1' — the opposite of the arrangement most candidates have drilled.
• Reading '45th' as the number of the whole championships and looking for an Indian result in the Bermuda Bowl. India's medal came in the d'Orsi Senior Trophy, held at the same meeting; Switzerland won the Bermuda Bowl.
• Rejecting statement 2 because a silver in a card game feels too obscure to be a landmark. It was genuinely India's first medal at a World Bridge Team Championship.

UPPSC asks sports current affairs directly — venue, winner, whether the result was a first — and often as a two-statement item with a scrambled code, which is exactly this question. UPSC prelims almost never asks individual sports results, so treat this as a State-PCS-specific area and prepare it from a dated table of events.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In which country were the World Bridge Team Championships held in 2022, at which India won its first medal?

  • (a)Poland
  • (b)Italy
  • (c)Switzerland
  • (d)China

  Answer(b) Italy — the championships were played at Salsomaggiore Terme from 27 March to 9 April 2022; Poland beat India in the seniors' final and Switzerland won the Bermuda Bowl.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Bermuda Bowl is the premier world team championship associated with which of the following?

  • (a)Contract bridge
  • (b)Chess
  • (c)Sailing
  • (d)Snooker

  Answer(a) Contract bridge — the open team event of the World Bridge Team Championships, alongside the Venice Cup, the d'Orsi Senior Trophy and the Wuhan Cup.