Malattiri lands Porsche Centre Dubai Champions Trophy

New Porsche series reaches climax at Emirates Golf Club  

Dubai - 28 June, 2015: Kuttan Malattiri has become the first winner of the Porsche Centre Dubai Champions Trophy at the climax of an exciting new series of events lighting up the UAE golf scene. Malattiri fired a four-under-par 68 to capture the title with one shot to spare from runner-up Aqeel Hemraj at the Emirates Golf Club.

Kuttan qualified for the Champions Trophy, an 18-hole strokeplay event contested over the Majlis Course - which concluded a successful season of Porsche Centre Dubai golf programmes.

Malattiri said: “Winning the event was a truly great experience. The qualifying stages were really tough and just to make it through to the final was an amazing achievement.  I was just hoping to play well on the day but to go all the way and win the trophy was remarkable.

“Porsche have done a great job of organising such a wonderful competition and I look forward to being a part of this tournament every season.”

Craig Dunn secured third place with a score of two-under-par 70 in the, while Lionel Smith finished fourth with a level par 72. In the Ladies division, Daniella Sacchini took first place following a magnificent six-under-par 66, with Rekha Bandapadhyay finishing runner-up on 73.

The Champions Trophy featured16 players who qualified through the Porsche Centre Dubai Match Play Series, which was staged over a period of seven months. They were joined by the top six players from last year’s Ramadan Cup and eight ladies in the guest division.

Vijay Rao, General Manager of Porsche Centre Dubai, Al Nabooda Automobiles, the sole distributor for Porsche in Dubai and the Northern Emirates said: “We’re delighted with the response we have received from our first full season of golf events. Through our strategic partnership with the Emirates Golf Club, we were able to bring Porsche customers, club members, and the wider golfing community a range of events to participate in.”

“We congratulate Kuttan on becoming our first Champions Trophy winner and commend all the other competitors who took part in all competitions. We will continue to support the local sporting culture, by announcing a new season of golf competitions soon.”

The inaugural Match Play event, which concluded in April, was open to all amateur UAE resident golfers and saw 88 players competing in the men's singles and 76 in the doubles. The inaugural Porsche Ramadan Cup attracted a field of 95 golfers.