The Olympiad, organised by Euro-Asian Astronomical Society, was held at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnij Arkhyz. In the under-16 category, Ranchu Mathew of Kendriya Vidyalaya (Bombay Engineering Group) bagged the gold medal while Varun Bhalerao of Kalamdi High School won the bronze medal.In under-18 category, Diwakar Shukla and Jayesh Raj of the City Montessori School, Lucknow were awarded the bronze medal. Altogether 25 students from five countries participated.

The mood was jubiliant at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) here yesterday as Ranchu and Varun, who along with their team were trained under special guidance at NCRA and Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), spoke to the press about their grand success.

``Based on scientific telescope data provided to us by the organising authorities, we were asked to determine the orbit of galaxies, binary stars, etc,'' remarked a confident gold medalist Ranchu, a student of class XI. Varun attributed his success to his school which runs an astronomy club and his deep interest in the subject. ``I am interested in astronomy and physics and do a lot of star gazing,'' he said.

Four of the five students and two team leaders were sponsored by ASI, with financial support from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The team leaders which accompanied the Indian group were Dr Pradeep Gothoskar (NCRA-TIFR, Pune) and Col J E S Singh of Lucknow.

This year, the ASI took up the task of sending an Indian team at a short notice. As a trial run, it was decided to select the team from two cities, Pune and Lucknow. ISRO provided the financial support from this trial venture and has promised to support an all India venture from next year onwards, said Dr V K Kapahi, president ASI and director NCRA-TIFR.

Enthused by the performance of the Indian lads, the ASI has now decided to conduct an Indian Astronomy Olympiad around February or March next year to select the national team for the next Olympiad which will be held at Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchny, Republic of Crimea in October 1999.``The nation-wide Olympiad will be conducted with the help of Indian Physics Teachers' Association,'' said Kapahi.