Iran lost to India 10-8 in the World Polo Championship 2017 qualifier in Tehran’s Kanoon Chogan, Qasr Firoozeh & the Army Polo Club on Monday.

Iran will play Pakistan on Wednesday in Pool E and face South Africa on Friday.

The pool’s champion will qualify for the World Polo Championship 2017 in Sydney, Australia.

A total of eight teams will participate at the competition.

Australia (host), Chile (reigning world champions), Uruguay and New Zealand have already qualified for the World Polo Championship 2017.

The U.S., Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Guatemala will vie for one spot in Zone A.

In Zone C, teams England, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany or the Netherlands will compete for two places.

Six days of world-class polo will commence on Saturday 21st October, with the final to take place on Sunday 29th October.

Polo originates from ancient Persia. Its invention is dated variously from the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD.

Iranians still refer to the game of polo by its original Persian name of "Chogan", which means mallet. Iranians still maintain some of the ancient rituals of the game in official polo matches.