The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Although he gave it a gallant effort, Philip Major Jr suffered a first round three set loss at the 17th Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

Major, the first of the Bahamas’ 36-member team to compete in any of the four disciplines, went the distance before losing a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 decision to Yannik James of Grenada in the men’s singles as the tennis competition got started on Saturday at the University of Toronto Scarborough Tennis Center.

The 19-year-old Bahamian player got aced twice by James, once in the first and again in the third set. But Major had his share of problems from the service box where he double faulted three times in the first set and once in the second.

In the first set that lasted for 37 minutes, Major won 12 of his 21 points on his first serve and 12 of 15 on the second. He improved in the second set that he won in 43 minutes by going 9-of-16 on his first serve and 16-of-17 on his second serve. However, in the third set that went 32 minutes, Major was 10-for-16 and 5-for-5 on his first and second serves respectively.

“My match was very good. I was very proud of the way I played,” said Major in an interview with The Tribune on Sunday. “It could have gone either way, so I was very happy with my result, despite that I lost. It gave me the confidence to know that I can compete with these guys and also have a chance to win against these guys.”

In his growing pain, Major said he will have to learn how to deal with his mental lapses after experiencing it about twice in the game.

“That’s normal in a tennis match, so I would say that I have to keep pushing and believing in myself in what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m starting to see everything that my coach has been telling me. It’s starting to come to life and it’s making me play much better. I also have a better flow with the game.”

Major, who is accompanied by coach Ricardo Demeritte, said although he’s done, he will continue to practice while he’s at the games and hopefully prepare for any further competition. But for now, he’s just going to suck up the trip as a learning experience for the future.

On Sunday, Kianna Dean, the lone representative in gymnastics, made her debut in the women’s team final and qualification rounds at the Toronto Coliseum. Unfortunately, she didn’t advance after an all-around score of 32.600 with her appearance on the vault (12.250), uneven bars (2.550), balance bean (8.150) and the floor (9.650).

Dean, who was accompanied by coach Trevor Ramsey, was originally scheduled to compete in the games with Simone Hall. But Hall suffered an injury that prevented her from competing. Dean, 18, said it was a dream come true for her to compete and represent the Bahamas.

Robert Butler, the chef de mission, said the two athletes in competition so far performed very well, but he noted that the level of competition at the games is extremely high. He noted that the five-member swim team and the three-man boxing team are waiting to compete next.

“They are all training right here on ground in the village,” Butler said.

While competition for the swim team, comprised of Joanna Evans, Laura Morley, Dustin Tynes, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Ariel Weech, won’t get started until Wednesday at the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House, the boxing team of Carl Hield, Keishno Major and Rashield Williams are slated to begin competition at the Oshawa Sports Centre on Saturday.

“This is a pretty close knitted group of athletes. They are all young and I guess they know each other from other meets, so they have a really good bond with each other,” Butler said. “They’ve been supporting each other, so it’s really been a good time here so far with everybody.”

Butler noted that 70 per cent of the games village where they are staying is brand new with high rise apartments. He noted that they eat out of a humongous makeshift cafeteria and a super gymnasium, which allows the athletes to do everything right on site.

Overall, he rates their living accommodations as 9-10.

The last discipline for the Bahamas is athletics, which won’t start competing until July 21 at the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Athletics Stadium.