May 25: Some dream of victory. Others wake up and work hard at it.

More than 400 youngsters from the state did the second to climb up the competition ladder and saddle themselves well on the IIT-JEE merit list, which was announced today.

Around 17,000 candidates from the four major academic centres of Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Dhanbad and a few thousand from elsewhere had appeared for the prestigious examination, which was held on April 10.

While 7,000 took the test from the capital, 5,000 joined the fray from the steel turf. Around 4,899 from Bokaro and Dhanbad districts also appeared for the exam.

Around 150 candidates made it to the merit list from Ranchi while Jamshedpur flaunted 160 winners. Bokaro saw more than 80 budding techies and over 24 cracked IIT-JEE from Dhanbad. The 414 winners from these centres will vie for 9,600 seats across 15 IITs, IIT-BHU and ISM-Dhanbad.

Giridih boy and Subhas Public School student Ankit Jalan secured an all-India rank of 45 to top the state as well as the IIT-Kharagpur zone. He was followed close on the heels by Bokaro boy and Delhi Public School student Anshul Rai who ranked 64 to star in the coal belt region.

Navin Chandak, an Orissa boy who registered for IIT-JEE from a coaching cradle in Jamshedpur, Prerna Classes, ranked 88. Similarly, Gaurav Kumar of Bihar brought glory to MIST Plus, another coaching school in the steel city with and all-India rank of 92. The highest scoring Jamshedpur candidate was Asim Anand (rank 465) of Vidya Bharati Chinmaya Vidyalaya.

Ranchi boy and Jawahar Vidya Mandir (JVM) student Amit Sarkar made the capital proud by ranking 305.

Revealing his secret to success, Ankit told The Telegraph that there was no substitute for hard work. “I studied 11-12 hours a day. Besides, my family members always encouraged me,” he said.

Arushi Jamaiyar, a DPS-Ranchi student who has ranked 669, echoed Ankit. “I dedicated four hours to entrance studies and I am happy,” the daughter of RIMS doctor said.

However, DPS-Bokaro student Anshul Rai had a different winning formula. All study and no entertainment would have made him a dull boy, the 17-year-old said. So, he happily interspersed lessons in physics, his favourite subject, with Big B or SRK movies or Tendulkar’s strokes to notch an all-India rank.

A strong contender for an IIT Kanpur or Delhi seat said: “I believe in quality study. I can’t rote learn for 10-12 hours at a stretch. My four-hour routine had a break every two hours when I watched movies or cricket. It refreshes your mind and you study better.”

Ranchi lad and pride of JVM-Shyamali Amit, who is the son of a JSEB engineer, wants to become a mechanical engineer. He conceded that he had expected to a rank within 100. “But I am glad that I cracked the exam,” he said.

Jamshedpur’s star candidate Asim is eyeing a berth in one of the top five IITs. “I want to opt for computer science. Let’s see what happens,” he has his fingers crossed.

DPS alumnus Vivek Poddar ranked 1313 to become the star of Dhanbad district. “Discipline is the key to success,” Vivek said. His junior, Shubham Gaurav, has ranked 1616. “There is nothing called last-minute preparation if you are serious about a career by means of any competitive exam,” Shubham said.

This time, there was no extended merit list like last year. Besides, the cut-off marks were also increased to 229 from 210, making the challenge even harder for aspirants.

JVM, Shyamali, principal D.R. Singh said II-JEE questions were less tough this time, but that by no means made the job easier for candidates. “When questions become easier, the competition gets tougher,” he pointed out, extending his heartiest congratulations to all the winners.