India, July 18 -- F or 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. 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 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. 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....