Mumbai: India’s young astronomy enthusiasts have put the country among the world’s best at the 19th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), returning from Hanoi with four gold medals and a silver.

Held in Vietnam from September 25 to October 5, the 2026 Olympiad brought together 307 students from 64 countries, its largest edition yet. India shared third place in the overall medal standings with Vietnam’s guest team, finishing behind Iran and South Korea, which won five gold medals each.

The Indian gold medal winners were Pranjal Dixit of Hyderabad, Sumant Gupta of Delhi, Akshat Srivastava of Gurugram and Arnav Sehrawat of Faridabad. Harshil Amitkumar Patel of Vadodara added a silver to India’s tally.

The medals were the culmination of intensive preparation at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) in Mankhurd, where students underwent orientation and pre-departure camps under the guidance of experienced teachers and mentors.

Prof Aniket Sule of HBCSE-TIFR, the current IOAA president, said the competition demanded more than theoretical knowledge.

“The competition consists of three components: theory, which carries 50 per cent of the total weightage; observation, 25 per cent; and data analysis, 25 per cent,” he said.

India also performed strongly across the three components and in the Olympiad’s mixed-nationality team competition.

The Indian delegation included scientific observers Prof Bhaswati Mookerjea of TIFR, Prof Sanved Kolekar of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics and Prof Abdul Rahoof K A of Sullamussalam Science College.

The strong showing highlights the depth of India’s talent pipeline in astronomy and astrophysics.