The world polo championship is being held at The Sydney Polo Club in Richmond, NSW. The Sydney Polo Club is one of Australia’s most prestigious and historic polo venues. It is the oldest club in the Southern Hemisphere and home to the XI FIP World Polo Championship. Located in Richmond NSW, the Sydney Polo Club is nestled at the heart of the State’s polo community on the banks of the beautiful Hawkesbury river.
Set within 400 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, the Club is host to several polo tournaments throughout the year; and the site for many high fashion photo shoots and major movie film locations including The Great Gatsby. Located on what was once a large dairy farm, the Club grounds have been transformed into an equine center of excellence; featuring indoor arenas, extensive stabling, and a host of magnificent venues.
The Zone E Qualifiers for the Championship that are taking place in Iran will see Iran, India, Pakistan, and South Africa facing each other in a series of matches until Friday.
On the first day of the 11th world polo qualifiers, Zone E ended with the supremacy of the Indian and Pakistani teams. According to the public relations officer of the Polo Federation, the Iranian National Polo Team failed during the first round of the qualifying games which determine the ascend to the World Polo Cup in Australia, and lost the game with a score of 8-10 against the Indian team. The Iranian and Indian national polo teams faced each other on Monday, 3rd July at the Ghasr-e-Firouzeh Polo Club, and the Iran national players, who experienced their first appearance in an international competition, exhibited an impressive performance.
The Iran Polo Team played a good game during the first chukka and won the match with a score of 5-4. In the second chukka, the Indian horses running along the good game of the players led the Indian team to end the second chukker with a score of 6-5. The Iranian players were trying to achieve a draw against the Indian team during the third chukker but they eventually settled for a score of 8-6.
At the beginning of the 4th chukker, Amirreza Behbodi fell onto the ground while preventing the Indian striker's attack, but he returned to the game after a few minutes. Despite their efforts and good defense, the Iranian polo players ultimately accepted defeat with a score of 8-10 at the end of the fourth chukker. Day 1 of qualifiers also witnessed team Pakistan taking home the victory against South Africa by 8-6.
For the second day on 5th July, India faced South Africa from 18:30, during which India won with a score of 6 to 5. Maharaja Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur scored 2 goals including the winning goal. Dhruvpal Godara also scored 2 goals while Angad Kalan and Siddhant Sharma scored 1 goal each.
The other match on the same day, saw Iran Polo Team admitting defeat against Pakistan in the qualification rounds for the Polo World Championship. The Iranian National Polo Team faced Pakistan from 17:00 on Wednesday on the Zoljanah field and admitted defeat with a score of 7 to 9.
During the first chukker, despite endless efforts from Iran, they lost the chukker to Pakistan by 5-4. In the second chukker, Iran was able to take over the field and game and won with a score of 6 to 5. The two teams faced rivalry that was extremely intense during the third chukker but the Iran team eventually lost by 6-8. During the last chukka, Amirreza Behboudi had a good opportunity to score but failed and the Pakistani team won this chukka 9-7.
The president of the FIP arrived in Tehran to attend the Qualification games of the world polo championship of the E region. The finals will take place on 7th July 2017 between India and Pakistan.
