The 17-year-old, who shares the top rank with Haryana's Panshul Bansal, said that cancellation of NEET exam was a setback which once broke him down, but eventually became the opportunity that made his record score possible. Just over two months ago, Aryan Gupta was in tears. The NEET-UG exam he had spent a year preparing for had been cancelled overnight following allegations of a paper leak. This week, the 17-year-old from Ludhiana is celebrating a joint All India Rank 1 — proof, he says, that the setback he once dreaded turned into the making of his success."I Cried a Lot": Neet Topper Aryan Gupta Aryan didn't hide how hard the cancellation hit him, admitting he cried a great deal when news broke that the exam had been scrapped. Talking to Indian Express, he said the setback didn't keep him down for long. By the very next day, Aryan told the publication, he had gone back to his books. He said he wasn't willing to give up so easily, though he admitted it took him roughly a week to fully regain his momentum and focus.Turning the Retest Into an AdvantageWhat changed his outlook, he says, was his brother Aditya, who is himself pursuing MBBS. Aryan credited him as a source of strength during those difficult days, he said Aditya encouraged him to see the retest not as a punishment, but as a second chance to prepare and perform even better.— PTI_News (@PTI_News) That reframing appears to have worked. Aryan also found comfort in numbers, he said that once he realised roughly 22 lakh other students were going through the identical situation, the challenge felt less isolating and more like a shared second chance.The Result: A Record-Breaking ScoreWhen results were declared by the National Testing Agency, Aryan had scored 715 out of 720, a joint AIR-1 with Haryana's Panshul Bansal, and 29 marks higher than last year's topper, who had managed 686 on an unusually tough paper. Nationally, close to 20 candidates crossed the 700-mark this year, a sign of just how strong the competition was despite, or perhaps because of, the disruption caused by the cancellation.Aryan Credits Discipline, Not Just Hard WorkAryan isn't a one-dimensional topper. He is also a state-level table tennis player and scored 98.4 percent in the medical stream of his CBSE Class 12 exams. He credited his teachers and coaching institute for guiding his preparation, but was clear in his conversation with Indian Express that the real difference came down to using time wisely. At the peak of his preparation, he said, he studied 16 to 17 hours a day, but always made room for breaks — including watching Netflix and using social media to unwind.Neet Topper's Father is Anaesthetist, mother Dr Reenu GuptaAryan's parents are both doctors, his father Dr Sachin Gupta is an anaesthetist, and his mother Dr Reenu Gupta a gynaecologist. In a separate interview with PTI, Aryan reflected on the scale of what he had achieved, saying the AIR-1 finish still feels surreal and dream-like even as the reality sinks in. He spoke about the toll the preparation took on him, including nights of lost sleep, but said seeing everyone around him happy now makes it all feel worthwhile.His message to fellow aspirants was simple and direct: put your faith in hard work and in your teachers. It's advice he says he lived by himself, pointing again to the long 16-to-17-hour study days that ultimately paid off.Why Neet Topp Aryan Gupta Wants to Become an OncologistAryan also opened up to PTI about the deeper motivation behind his medical ambitions. He revealed that he wants to specialise as an oncologist, a goal that traces back to a personal loss — his grandmother died of cancer when he was still in the third standard. He said her death led him to take a pledge at that age, one that has quietly shaped his career path ever since. Looking ahead, he added that there's still a great deal he wants to accomplish in life, but for now, he's simply enjoying the moment.Aryan's journey, from tears over a cancelled exam to a shared national No. 1 rank just weeks later, is being seen as one of this year's most inspiring comebacks. For the lakhs of students who faced the same uncertainty when the May exam was scrapped, his story is a reminder that a setback, however painful in the moment, doesn't have to be the end of the road.