For Ludhiana’s Aryan Gupta, the road to the top of NEET-UG 2026 came with an unexpected second round. The 17-year-old scored 715 out of 720 marks to share the national top spot with Haryana’s Panshul Bansal when the results were declared on Thursday. NEET PG 2026 topper Aryan Gupta with his parents in Ludhiana (Gurpreet Singh/HT)The original examination was cancelled following allegations of a paper leak, sending aspirants back into preparation mode for the June 21 re-test. For Aryan, the news took time to sink in. “It took a while to get back into the study mode,” he admits.What helped him reset between long hours of studying? Anime episodes, music and quick games of table tennis. A Japanese animation enthusiast, Aryan says he would “watch an episode during a break, listen to his favourite tracks or squeeze in a 10-minute game before returning to his books”.He further tells us, “These short breaks helped me relax and come back with better focus.” Once the examination journey finally ended, he marked the moment by watching the Hollywood film Obsession.Aryan, a student of Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, credits the result to discipline and the support of his teachers and family. “After dedicating 16-17 hours towards studies, it feels like I’ve finally got the fruit of all my hard work,” he says.His preparation strategy was equally straightforward: follow every instruction and leave no assignment unfinished. “My brother told me to follow the teachers blindly. Whatever homework or assignments they gave, I completed them. That’s how the two years passed,” Aryan shares.The son of anaesthetist Dr Sachin Gupta and gynaecologist Dr Reenu Gupta, Aryan now hopes to study at AIIMS Delhi and specialise in oncology. “I want to become a great oncologist,” he says.A total of 11.21 lakh candidates have qualified the re-entrance exam this year, the National Testing Agency (NTA) had announced on Thursday.More than 93% of the 138 candidates who scored above 690 were appearing for NEET-UG for the first time, while 19 candidates scored 700.A total of 1,492 candidates scored 650 or above, while 10,160 scored 600 or more, according to NTA.Political leaders, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, have also congratulated Aryan for securing the AIR 1 rank.