IIIT Hyderabad team shines at ICPC World Finals in Baku
HYDERABAD: A three-member coding team from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H), returned with a strong performance at the 2025 International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) World Finals held in Baku, Azerbaijan, between August 31 and September 5.
The team, comprising Shiven Sinha, Hari Aakash K and Sushil Raaja Umasudhan, secured their berth after finishing first in the Kanpur regional in December 2024 and third in the Asia-West championship in March 2025. Popularly called the “Olympics of Programming Competitions,” ICPC saw participation from 73,083 students across 3,424 universities in 103 countries, with 140 teams reaching the finals.
Students rank 11th in Huawei ICPC Challenge ahead of finals
A day before the finals, all teams took part in the mandatory ICPC World Finals Challenge, sponsored by Huawei. The Hyderabad trio placed 11th, earning prizes for finishing within the top 12. Prof. Pudi credited IIIT-H’s “practice–theory–practice” curriculum and peer mentoring culture for sustained results. “In the last three years, students interested in competitive programming have signed up for independent study.
Teamwork and preparation
All three students have backgrounds in Olympiads. Shiven, now in his final year, said: “We came together through a campus camp with IITs and NITs. After every contest, we analysed strategies and shared problem-solving approaches. That built our synergy.” Second-year student Sushil said their preparation included simulating past contests and reviewing mistakes: “ICPC problems are very different. At the finals, there were 12 problems and we solved six. It was challenging but an exciting experience.”
Hari Aakash, also a second-year student, noted that the team split topics and practiced specific problem types ahead of the finals: “The Huawei Challenge was heuristic and hard to prepare for, but finishing 11th and winning a smartwatch prize was satisfying.” The Hyderabad contingent also engaged with international peers. “We discussed strategies with the second-place winners from Japan. It was a valuable exchange,” Shiven added.
