Student Achievement: Kishan Kumar Sagar and Nithyananda K Win First Place at CASCADE ‘26 National Haematology Quiz, Madurai

AIMS Students Shine at CASCADE ‘26 National Intercollegiate Haematology Quiz

Mr. Kishan Kumar Sagar and Mr. Nithyananda K, Phase III Part II MBBS students of Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), B.G. Nagara, represented the institution at CASCADE ‘26, a national-level intercollegiate haematology quiz. The quiz was held on 1 November 2026 at Madurai Medical College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. It was organised by Madurai Medical College with its Astral Academic Club, Blood Donors Club, General Quiz Club and Research Club. About 170 teams of 340 students from medical colleges across India took part in the hybrid event.

Outstanding Performance Across Three Rounds

The AIMS team performed strongly across all three stages:

• REDIX: Into the Arcana – First Place. The team ranked first out of 72 teams nationwide in this fast-paced 30-minute online round. It tested rapid recall, diagnostic accuracy and breadth of knowledge, and the win earned the team direct entry to the offline semi-finals.
• Mission Erythra: Blood & Beyond – 8th Place. In the main offline preliminaries and semi-finals at Madurai Medical College, the team finished 8th out of 170 teams, placing it in the national top ten.
• Diagnostic Detectives: Clues in Cells – Finalists. On the strength of its semi-final ranking, the team reached the finals of this case-based challenge. Teams worked through multi-stage clinical cases involving red cell, white cell and platelet disorders and transfusion medicine.

Topics Covered

The competition covered the full range of haematology:

• benign and malignant blood disorders
• red and white cell disorders
• platelet and coagulation disorders
• immunohaematology
• peripheral blood and bone marrow morphology
• blood transfusion protocols
• advanced diagnostic workups

Learning Outcomes

Through the competition, the students:

• sharpened their diagnostic reasoning in interpreting complete blood counts, peripheral smears, coagulation profiles and bone marrow studies
• improved their skill in recognising cells and abnormalities, including rare blood disorders, cellular inclusions, leukaemic blasts and abnormal red cell, white cell and platelet forms
• built teamwork and time management through rapid-fire rounds and high-pressure, time-limited decisions

Relevance to the Institution

What the students learned will feed into peer teaching, study groups and quiz preparation at AIMS. It also builds the competencies expected of future doctors in transfusion safety, anaemia evaluation and the workup of blood cancers. Their success shows the quality of academic training at AIMS and encourages more students to compete at national level.

Conclusion

A national first place, a top-ten finish among 170 teams and a place in the finals bring real academic credit to AIMS and Adichunchanagiri University. AIMS congratulates Mr. Kishan Kumar Sagar and Mr. Nithyananda K on this achievement and wishes them continued success.