India are pooled with Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan in the lowest ranked Group E in the third and final leg of the HSBC Asian Rugby Sevens series for men, to be held at the Bombay Gymkhana here on October 12 and 13.
After finishing 14th out of 16 competing teams last year in the three-leg series with 3 points, India are aiming to end up higher, said Rugby India president Pramod Khanna at the draw of the 16-team third leg today.
Khanna's optimism stemmed from the fact that Indian men had started this season well and defeated higher ranked UAE recently in Thailand.
"We expect a much better performance from India," he said.
Japan are leading the table with 24 points in the series and were followed by last year's champions Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and South Korea.
These four teams were seeded and placed in different groups from A to D in the draw.
The other core men's teams competing are Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, China and UAE.
The two top finishers in the three-leg series would gain automatic entry to a qualification tournament for spots on the Sevens World Series to be held in Hong Kong in March 2014.
