Simon Earl and Richard Aybar booked their place in the UAE National Final when they won the Daman Investments International Pairs UAE Qualifier at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

It was one of the closest qualifiers since the tournament started, with three teams finishing regulation play on 39 stableford points.

Apart from Earl and Aybar, the two other teams that finished on 39 points on a good day for scoring were Anish Bhatia and Swati Singh and Ashok Sindu and Vaibhav Jain.

But on the application of a card countback, it was Earl and Aybar who walked away with the top honours following their outstanding back nine performance of 22 points.

Bhatia and Singh were placed runners- up, while Sindu and Jain had to be satisfied with third place.

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Bhatia was in fine form on the day and was among the prizes again when he won the Nearest to the Pin for his accurate shot on the par-3 14th, while Imran Qayyum and Kristi Sealey were awarded the same on the fifth and 16th holes.

Earl and Singh also added to their prizes, with Earl winning the Nearest to the Pin in two shots on the treacherous par-4 17th and the men’s longest drive on the fourth while Singh was the nearest to the pin in three on the par-5 13th.

Sealey was not only closest to the pin on the 16th hole, she also won the women’s longest drive on the par-4 12th hole. International Pairs is an amateur golf series involving over 30 countries.

The National Final winners from these countries are awarded luxury travel to compete in the International Pairs World Final.

The title sponsors of the tournaments are Daman Investments, while Qantas, Mediclinic, TaylorMade, Decayeux Golf, Fine & Country Golf, Santa Fe Relocations, Guardian Wealth Management and BMW AGM also support them.