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| The Bahamas right in the mix at Davis Cup Tie |
Kelsie Johnson
Guardian Sports Reporter kelsie@nasguard.com
Published: Jun 22, 2012
President of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA), Derron Donaldson, is not surprised that the men’s national team is sitting well in their pool in the Americas Zone Group III Davis Cup Tie. While many criticized the changes made to the national team by Donaldson when he assumed office early this year, the president said he is proud of his decision to send the young team down to Trinidad and Tobago to compete. The Bahamas is sitting pretty comfortable in Pool ‘B’ with a win/loss record of 7-2, in terms of sets. Costa Rica is the only country, in the pool, Team Bahamas is yet to play. The match results today will determine their final position in Pool ‘B’. On their day off, on Thursday, team members Dentry Mortimer (captain), Marvin Rolle, Rodney Carey, Phillip Major Jr. and Jody Turnquest, kept a close eye on Costa Rica and Jamaica. Costa Rica played Panama and Jamaica took to the court against the U.S. Virgin Islands. No results were available up to press time. Donaldson said he was crossing his fingers, wanting both Jamaica and Costa Rica to pick up losses. Up to press time, Costa Rica had a win/loss record of 5-1. If they were successful against Panama then the three wins would put them as the number one team in the group. As for Jamaica, three wins would give them a 6-1 win/loss record. They certainly cannot be counted out. They’ll square off against the U.S. Virgin Islands today. “I am extremely proud of them, giving that everyone called the squad ‘the baby Davis Cup team’,” said Donaldson. “The team has a new captain and they are performing. It was unfortunate, on Wednesday, that they lost the doubles in three sets, but they are still sitting in a great position with the two wins, 3-0 and 3-0. “I look forward to them at least capturing no less than the second spot. They are almost there. The team has a lot of potential and the first two matches proved that they can compete. They came out of the starting blocks very strong and I know that they will finish even stronger. Wednesday, it looked like it was a fight and I don’t think that they played bad, just little areas they fell short in during play, but that comes with experience.” Only the top two countries from each pool will advance to the semi-finals, which will start on Saturday. Playing over in Pool ‘A’ are Guatemala, Aruba, Haiti, Honduras and host country Trinidad and Tobago. The two winning nations will be promoted to the Americas Zone Group II, for 2013. The Americas Zone Group IV was merged with Group III, so there will be no relegation for 2013. |
