3 min readLudhianaUpdated: Jul 17, 2026 07:37 AM IST
“I cried a lot the day the exam was cancelled. But the very next day, I picked up my books again because I knew I couldn’t give up so easily.”
Those are the words of 17-year-old Aryan Gupta from Ludhiana, who bounced back from the biggest setback of his NEET journey to jointly secure All India Rank (AIR) 1 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026.
Aryan scored 715 out of 720 marks, sharing the top rank with Haryana’s Pranshul Bansal. The National Testing Agency (NTA) declared the results late on Thursday.
This year’s examination had been thrown into turmoil after allegations of a paper leak and other irregularities. The exam, first held on May 12, was cancelled the same day and conducted again on June 21, forcing more than 22 lakh aspirants to prepare all over again.
“It took me about a week to regain my momentum,” Aryan told The Indian Express. “Initially, it felt very difficult to start preparing all over again. But then I realised I wasn’t alone. There were 22 lakh other students going through exactly the same thing. They too had to study again. Once I accepted that, I got back to my routine.”
A resident of Dugri and a former student of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, Aryan says discipline, rather than marathon study sessions, made the difference.
“My teachers and coaching institute played a crucial role, but ultimately it is about using your time wisely. During the peak of my preparation, I studied for 16-17 hours a day, but I also made sure to take breaks. I watched Netflix and used social media to relax.”
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Aryan credits his elder brother, Aditya Gupta, currently pursuing MBBS in Delhi, with helping him overcome the disappointment.
“He kept telling me the re-test was actually an opportunity to prepare better and perform better. That gave me confidence,” Aryan said.
His father, Dr Sachin Gupta, an anaesthetist, remembers the difficult days after the cancellation.
“He had cried a lot. We didn’t force him to return to his books immediately. Instead, we took him out with family and friends, gave him time and let him recover emotionally. It took almost a week before he was back on track,” he said.
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Calling Aditya the family’s “biggest motivator”, Dr Gupta said his elder son would regularly call Aryan and counsel him through the period of uncertainty.
“There are rotten apples in every system, but we continue to have full faith in the NTA. NEET remains one of the country’s most competitive and objective examinations, where merit ultimately prevails,” he added.
Aryan is also a state-level table tennis player and scored 98.4 per cent in the CBSE Class XII examinations. His elder brother, Aditya, had secured AIR 54 in NEET and is now pursuing MBBS in Delhi.
Why this works better: It opens with emotion instead of the result, immediately giving readers a reason to care. The rank becomes the payoff to a story of resilience rather than the story itself, making the narrative more engaging while keeping it firmly in news-report style.
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