1.

The point to the naghol ritual is that it it is aimed at a bountiful yam harvest, and so your hair must touch the earth, fertilising it thus with your maleness. What is the common term for naghol?The ritual is practised on which tract discovered by Louis de Bougainville 50 days after Easter in 1768?

ANSWERLand-jumping, Pentecost Island

2.

It was a short lived event at the 1932 Games, held along a 2” wide 60’ long horsehair strip doing flips and twists. The only Olympic Champion was Rowland "Flip" Wolfe of the United States. Wolfe's key move was the backflip with a double twist, which helped him to become the Olympic champion . It is now incorporated into a modern event.

ANSWERTumbling.

Now a routine that is part of floor-exercises in gymnastics

3.Its origins can be traced to eastern Canada and the New England states, particularly the state of Maine, during the boom in a particular business in the 19th century.

The rules were soon standardized, and camp championship contests were held, followed by inter-camp and eventually intersectional contests, finally culminating in national championship tournaments, called rodeos.

Contestants wore their work clothes—shortened overalls or jeans, woollen shirts, and high-topped calked boots.

What trade/business? What sport?

ANSWERBirling or Log-rolling,

Which originated among lumber-jacks.

4.

The Vailima Six-shooters Championship is one of the major tournaments in this sport, and was begun in 1998.

Sides typically comprise 5 forwards, 5 backs, and 5 ‘onballers’ who can move in an unrestricted manner across the field. Which sport?

ANSWERSamoan Football

5.“The traditional, and still most popular technique is to stick a garden fork in the ground, and hit it with a stick. The consequent vibrations bring targets to the surface where they are collected by an assistant, known in competitive circles as a ghillie.But the sport is rapidly evolving, with new methods emerging all the time."You've always got to be thinking ahead," says Helen Forster, 32, who tap dances on a plank to the theme from Star Wars. "Everyone's looking for a breakthrough."Elaine West and Gloria Bebbington, teachers at the school where the championships began 30 years ago, use cricket stumps, which they clobber with a bat.Rod Trott, 68, from Cheshire was bent over a xylophone played with bottles for extra effect. Some techniques, while strictly legal, have proved controversial.One involved sticking knitting needles into the ground, which critics claimed was dangerous.”

Account in The Telegraph of what?

ANSWERWorm-charming, or worm-calling

6.Charles Lecour is identified as the creator of this martial art which combines English boxing rules with sundry kicking styles from around the Marseilles area. The name for this sport comes from the French for ‘shoe’ and shares something with a word meaning ‘to do damage willfully’. What sport, where most contestants play wearing their shoes?

ANSWERSavate, closely related to ‘sabotage’.

7.“We had 30 teams of four playing on the Dorchester Bridge followed by 547 players in the individual games on both the Dorchester and Little Wittenham Bridges.” From a website devoted to which sport that travelled into real-life?

ANSWERPooh-sticks,

Created in tribute to Winnie-the-Pooh’s pastime.

8. Karnataka has an Association for this sport, and their logo helpfully translates the name into English as ‘Stick-Fencing’. Which sport?

ANSWERSilambam

9. The sport is called Fjerleppen, and involves the skilful use of a long aluminum pole. It takes its English name from a distinctive feature associated with which country? What is this name?

ANSWERCanal-jumping, Holland

10.

They are typically built out of the wood of one of the Artocarpus (Jackfruit) species to specifications that were apparently laid out in a mysterious volume titled the Sthapathya Veda. More modern versions are built of steel.The local name for them comes from the local word for snout or beak while outsiders use somewhat more reptilian names . What are we talking about?

ANSWERChundan Vallam or Snake-boats

11.

Civil servants tried importing rubber balls in large quantities into the villages of Pandhurna and Savargaon in 2001 and 2002, to no avail. When they tried stricter measures, in later years, there was rioting. What are we talking about?

ANSWERThe two villages have a stone-throwing match

every year titled Gotmaar.

12.

Ningthou Kangba was ruler of this kingdom from 1459 to 1305 BC, often described as the first king of _____, and is said to have invented something which still bears his name. Which kingdom? What did he invent

ANSWER“It was expressed that Sagol-Kangjei was invented by Ningthou Kangba for the first time in Manipur. So, the term Kaang-Chei or Kang-Jei (a hockey or stick made of cane), Kang-droom (a ball made of

bamboo root) was taken after the name Kangba.”

13. This event takes its name from the fact that contestants look rather like these animals, miscalled _____ by Australians. What sport, a version of tug-of-war played with a leather belt/band?

ANSWERGoanna-pulling

14.

The Kirkpinar is a tournament that has been held continuously since the 1300s in a sport known locally as Yagh-Gures.

The distinctive elements are a leather garment called a kisbet, and the use of olive-oil. The winner is usually the contestant who first puts his hand through the other’s kisbet!!

What sport?

ANSWERTurkish oil-wrestling

15.

The sport of Volata (‘to fly’, literally, but ‘to sprint’ officially) was developed in 1929 and became popular in Italy and Spain. It was apparently closer to ancient games such as Harpastum and was kept alive by government support till 1937. What caused the rise of this sport?

ANSWERCreated by the Fascists in Italy to distance

sportsmen from ‘English’ games like Association Football and Rugby/

16.

Thoda-ka-khel, a ritual combining archery and dancing, is staged in Bakhoj village, Himachal Pradesh, and in several other locations such as Theog, Narkanda, Chopal, Sirmaur and Solan. It is a two-day observance, usually held around Baisakhi. Two teams feature—the Saatha and the Paasha. Respectively the Sixty, and the Five, what ancient rivalry do their matches re-enact?

ANSWERPandavas and the Kauravas. They believe that the latter were sixty in number, and even re-enact the

Ckahravyuha.

17.

Hurling and Rounders are two of a set of four that are known by a common name. What are the other two sports? What common name is used for all of them?

ANSWERGaelic Football and Gaelic Handball. Collectively

called Gaelic Games.

18. The Egremont Fair is devoted to the appreciation of a certain fruit, and perhaps by extension, to a rather unusual contest. What contest?

ANSWERCrab Apples and Gurning, a face-pulling contest.

19. What sport, played using the fruit of the horse-chestnut tree in England?

ANSWERConkers

20.

The term was first applied to rubber erasers by British schoolboys in the 19th century and is thought to be a blend of spongy and bouncy. It was later applied to elastic ropes and then evolved to its present meaning. What term?

ANSWERBungee