Guwahati, May 16: Two eight-year-old students of NPS International School in the city have become national champions in the country’s largest online Abacus Competition-National Prodigy 2021.
Madrik Bairagi and Hriyan Kaushik Thakuria of Class III had to compete with 27,000 children from 20 states to reach the final stage.
Organised by India’s biggest skill development organisation, the competition was tough where kids had to solve 200 mathematical sums in just 11 minutes. They had to work faster than the calculator. Those who solved the maximum correct sums became the champions. “It had 17 different levels and so we had 17 champions,” said Dinesh Victor, MD of SIP Academy.
“Initially, I was afraid, but once settled I was confident. I prepared well for the competition. I practiced regularly and told Hriyan,” said Madrik.
Bhanu Prakash, the World’s fastest human-computer was the chief guest and announced the winners.
“While some big states couldn’t get a single title, the Guwahati boys earned two champion titles for Assam, which is a matter of great pride,” said Tarunoda, who facilitated their training.
Most of the champions are from smaller towns.
Another interesting feature was two boys from the same family in Pune became National Champions in different categories. They are Omkar Azad Shirke, and his younger brother Ashish Axad Shirke. Both are from Saswad in Pune.
