Ujjain girl emerges zonal topper

Indore: Harshita Goyal, originally from Ujjain and currently residing in Indore, emerged as the Kanpur zone topper in the girls' category in the JEE Advanced 2025 results announced on Monday. With an All India Rank (AIR) of 434, Harshita also secured the top position among girls in Madhya Pradesh.Harshita moved to Indore in 2023 after Class 10 to pursue JEE coaching at a reputed institute. With a strong aspiration to enter the engineering field, she relocated to a hostel to focus on her studies. However, within a few months, she fell seriously ill, suffering from typhoid followed by pneumonia, which kept her away from studies for nearly one and a half months.Concerned about her health, her family decided that her 75-year-old maternal grandmother, Madhu Pandviya, would move to Indore to stay with her. Since early 2024, Harshita has been staying in Indore with her grandmother, while her mother, Meghna Goyal, continues to work as a private banker in Ujjain. Speaking about her success, Harshita said, "I expected a good result based on the answer keys, but I never imagined I would top the state. It was truly surprising." "Apart from my teachers at the coaching, my mother and grandmother kept me motivated throughout," said Harshita. Harshita believes in strengthening what she already knows before focusing on her weaker areas. Even during the final phase of exam preparation, she prioritised revising her strong subjects.Additionally, many other students from the city secured high ranks. Chirayu Jain from the city secured AIR 28, while Shantanu Patel secured AIR 174 in the general category and AIR 25 in the OBC category, followed by Atharv Airen with AIR 265. Over 2,100 students from the city appeared for the exam, which was held on May 18. More than 200 students from the city secured AIR ranks between 100 and 1,000 this year. TNN