Education | The Indian Express
The Indian team, represented by four girls – Sanjana Chacko, 16, Shreya Shantanu Mundhada, 15, Saee Patil, 18, and Shreya Gupta Ray, 18 – clinched two silver and bronze medals at the 14th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO) held in Pristina, Kosovo, from April 11 to 17. EGMO is an international-level mathematics competition exclusively for high school girls who have an interest in the subject beyond the school curriculum.
The Indian team was led by Dr Mrudul Thatte (Leader), TIFR, Mumbai; followed by Aditi Muthkhod (Deputy Leader), CMI, Chennai; and Ananya Ranade (Observer With Contestants), CMI, Chennai.
indianexpress.com spoke to the medallists to learn about their experience in Kosovo, Olympiad journey, and their future plans. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about your Olympiad journey and the days spent in Kosovo
Saee Patil: At the age of 10 in 2018, I appeared in my first Olympiad, but I was not so determined about it, which impacted my marks in stage two. I did not want to pursue these high-level competitions at that time seriously, but my interest in Mathematics remained. I used to practice it also, and then in 2023, it so happened that I cracked the national stage of the Olympiad, and after that, I started preparing for the international level.
Sanjana Chacko: The country and people were really beautiful, and you could see snow-clad mountains. We were in the capital city, Pristina. On the first day, our guide took us on a city tour where we visited some landmarks and monumental places, and a cathedral. I also made some new friends from different countries.
Shreya Gupta Ray: I started my Olympiad preparation from Class 7, first preparing for the ground stage of EGMO, that is, IOQM (Indian Olympiad Qualifier in Mathematics). After cracking the initial stages of the exam, I prepared for the national-level Olympiads and higher-level questions to refine my knowledge for the international level. There were times when I spent two days solving a problem, but I had this thing in mind that the time should not be wasted. I enjoyed every moment of the preparation.
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Did you use any online platforms to help prepare for the Olympiad?
Chacko: After getting selected for EGMO, I took assistance from a few online platforms. One of the sources I used for the preparation was ‘Sufi Fellowship’, a training program run by a senior.
Saee Patil and I are also directing an online math club. These two things helped me a lot in this journey, apart from a few books like Euclidean Geometry in Mathematical Olympiads by Evan Chen, Modern Olympiad Number Theory by Aditya Ranjan, and various resources available on Google.
Can AI be a game changer for Olympiad preparation?
Chacko: I feel that artificial intelligence could occasionally help in solving problems or understanding concepts, but I do not find AI useful for solving equations at the Olympiad level.
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Patil: I have seen the potential of artificial intelligence in various sectors. However, I am not sure about the use of AI for Olympiads. For instance, I don’t believe that ChatGPT has reached the level where the model will help aspirants in mathematics Olympiads. I also prepared for the Informatics Olympiad, so AI might help by reviewing the code or sharing the correct syntax of the problem. It can reduce the time duration of learning things.
Future plans
Sanjana Chacko has one last chance left to appear for EGMO, which will be held in 2026. She is also trying to get shortlisted for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and has two more chances left. As of now, Chacko has no plans to appear for the JEE.
On the other hand, Saee Patil will appear for the IMO in May 2026. She is also not considering appearing for JEE as of now, and she will take a call after reaching Class 12. Shreya Gupta Ray wants to use her skills in mathematics in the future.
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Sheen Kachroo
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