Three friends do India proud in science Olympiad

JAIPUR: Three friends from Kota, preparing together to crack the IIT entrance for the past two years, have not only represented India in the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO), held in Arnhem-Nijmegen in The Netherlands, but has helped India to third position in the global competition which concluded on December 12.
Taiwan came first with six gold medals while Russia stood second with six.India was third with four golds and two silver medals. Fifty countries participated in the competition.
Mudita Goyal and Akhil Jain, who won golds, and Adarsh Raj Sahu (silver) from Kota were part of the six-member Indian team selected through a rigorous national-level process in which 50,000 students participated from across the country.
Other members of the team include Subarno Nath Roy (gold) from Mumbai, Kunal Samanta (gold) from West Bengal and Niyati Mehta (silver) from Ahmedabad.
The trio, students of Disha Delphi Public School, first met in Class IX and had planned to join IIT. The Class X students have been spending 12-13 hours in the classroom and coaching institute.
“Studying together has improved our performance. We solve our problems during conversations at breaks in the coaching lobby or over phone. It has helped us to perform better than others,” said Goyal.
They feel that a sense of healthy competition has pushed them to improve after every test. When asked what was the most memorable moment in the last two years, Sahu said that it was to see the name of his close friends, Jain and Goyal, in the list of finalists. “Our coordination and understanding developed over the last two years helped us to crack the final round in Mumbai and succeed in The Netherlands,” said Sahu.
Out of 50,000 candidates, 300 were selected for the next round. Thirty-six were selected for the next round. The final six were chosen after contests held over 18 days at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mumbai.
“During the entire period, we kept the morale of each other up and the team. Our coordination during group activities has helped us to crack the equations faster,” said Jain. The three are students of the Allen Career Institute in Kota.
After the IJSO triumph, they trio will compete for the Class X exams along with Olympiads lined up next year.