Kolkata:
Indian men's team of Viswas, Jayanta Talukdar and Rahul Banerjee took the pole, while the inexperienced women's side failed to make the cut at the Archery World Cup Stage I in Shanghai on Wednesday.
According to information received here, Services archer Viswas led the Indian tally, shooting 662 as he along with Talukdar (661) and Banerjee (656) had a combined tally of 1979 to be four points clear at the top, ahead of the Spanish and Aussies in the men's qualification round.
With top recurve nation Korea giving the season-opener a miss, the Indian men's team have the best chance to convert the start into a podium finish.
In absence of top archers Deepika Kumari, Dola Banerjee and Laishram Bombayla Devi, who failed to make the Shanghai-bound squad, the likes of Laxmi Rani Majhi (633), Pranitha Vardhineni (614) and Lavanya Nomula (612) finished 38th, 64th and 65th respectively to miss the elimination round.
It was a reality check for the women archers as their scores were way behind the Mexican Aida Roman who took the pole shooting 674.
Indian women, however, did well in the compound section finishing third in the team qualification. Jyothi Surekha Vennam gave the vital push shooting 690, seven points shy of topper Erika Jones of the US.
