Sachin Dasnurkar, a student of the D S High School in Sion, topped in Mumbai sub-division with a score of 94.13 per cent, which also got him the fourth spot in the state merit list. He is the first merit holder D S High School has produced in the last ten years.

A fan of his namesake cricketing star, Sachin Tendulkar, Sachin these days is in awe of the Brazilian striker Ronaldo. ``I used to study regularly without the help of guides, though I did join a coaching class for a little more practice,'' he told Express Newsline. He now wishes to join the science stream at the D G Ruparel College. But unlike others in the academic rat race, Sachin would like to pursue a career inresearch. Interestingly, his elder sister Suneeta too was a merit holder (13th) in 1993 and is now in the final year computer engineering in the city.

Ashwini A Kamath of Babubhai Pannalal Mohanlal High School, Khar bagged the second spot in the city and the first among the girls with a score of 93.06 per cent. She wants to join the N M College of Commerce to pursue a career in chartered accountancy. Ashwini attended a formal ceremony today where all the toppers were honoured. ``Hardwork is no doubt responsible for the success, but luck also counts,'' she told press persons.

Her mother Archana, who is a housewife, added: ``She took private tuitions for only Marathi and science, otherwise Ashwini has been a topper since her kindergarten days.'' Her father, Ashok Kamath, also happens to be an ex-student of the same school. ``I was in the Hindi section of the school and I realised the disadvantage of being a vernacular student, hence I put my daughter in the English section. The school's principal, R RMaurya, was a happy man. ``This is the first SSC topper this school has produced,'' he said.

Unlike the two top rankers, the night school topper from the Y J S Gujarati Night High School, Neha Parikh (81.06 per cent), was a bit disappointed by her score. ``I now wish to pursue my diploma in engineering,'' she said.

Prasad Suhas Madhav of the Swami Vivekanand School, Dombivli gave his colony a reason to celebrate by bagging the third position in the merit list securing 93.6 per cent marks. When contacted, the Madhav family was in a jubilant mood. ``We only wish his father was here to share the joy,'' said Preeti Madhav, Suhas' mom. Her husband who works for the Merchant Navy was away on his ship. Ambernath and Ulhasnagar too had reasons to be proud with Omkar G Karhade (92.80 per cent) of the Mahatma Gandhi Vidyalaya and Manisha Chanderlal (92.26 per cent) of the New Era High School here made it to the merit list.

The results were, however, quite disppointing for the Balmohan Vidyamandir at Dadar whichis traditionally known for producing toppers every year. This year not a single student of this school could make it. Some other reputed schools like the SIES in Matunga too drew a blank. Though former principal of Balmohan Vidyamandir, G M Dabholkar, was sad about his institution's performance, he was happy for the other schools. ``It only shows that other schools are gradually improving. "Last year the general merit list was spread across 65 schools. This year the number has risen to 70,'' he said.

This time, the Board did not declare the merit list in the handicapped category. The chairperson of the board, S A H Abidi told Express Newsline: ``There has been some technical problems involved. We have asked for the medical certificates of the concerned candidates. The list will be out soon.''

Marksheets of 210 Thane students

More than 200 students of the Shiv Samarth Vidyalaya, Thane, have not received their results until late on Monday night as the school has been unable to locate themarksheets. When the students, numbering 210, landed at their school at 3 pm, they were told that their marksheets hadn't `arrived yet'.

The marksheets had reached Kalyan by `mistake', the students were told. However, when a peon was sent to Kalyan, he failed to locate the marksheets. The students were then told the marksheets were in Virar, and someone was then sent to Virar. But to the students' horror, the marksheets were not found at Virar as well. Till the time of going to press, the results were still in transit.