The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS 

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Junior Fed Cup team will return home from El Salvador with a fifth place finish in the 2017 North/Central American and Caribbean Under-16 Tournament.

However, the boys’ team in the Jr Davis Cup had to settle for 13th place in the week-long tournament.

The girls’ team pulled off their final match, beating the Dominican Republic 2-1 as Elana Mackey won 6-0, 6-1 over Maria Elmudesi, while top seed Sydney Clarke won 6-1, 6-2 over Maria Mella.

However, Elmudesi and Mella won by a walkover over Clarke and Mackey after fifth place was already clinched.

“Our performances were very good,” said Bradley Bain, who coached the girls. “The girls really haven’t played a tournament since they were in Freeport about a month ago.

“So in terms of being match ready, I think that was a problem right there. It showed in our first match against San Salvador where we didn’t have the match toughness. As we played on, the girls got better because they played a couple of matches.”

Guatemala went on to win the overall title, but Bain said after losing to them in the semi-final, they rebounded to take care of business in their final match against the Dominican Republic.

“We were hitting our stride just a little too late,” he said.

“But they showed great promise. I would have liked to finish a little higher, but it was tough playing against Guatemala. It just showed that we could play with the best in the region. The girls did very well.”

As for the boys’ team, coached by Ricardo Demeritte, they swept Honduras 3-0 as Danali Nottage won his singles 7-5, 6-2 over Miguel Lopez and Donte Armbrister, the top seed, won 6-1, 6-0 over Rodrigo Diaz. The Grand Bahamian combo of Kofi Bowe and Nottage won the doubles 5-7, 7-5, 12-10 over Diaz and Lopez.

Bain, speaking on behalf of the team, said he felt the boys team didn’t achieve the expectations, even though it wasn’t the strongest team that could have represented the country.

“I think that Donte (Armbrister) could clearly play with the boys here, but his supporting cast was a little weak for 16. They had a challenge at 14, so 16 was a stretch for them as a team.

“But they seemed to hold their own. They need more match play, tougher matches and they have improved their overall game in order to compete with the 16s boys.”

With the experience they gained under their belts this year, Bain said they have another shot next year so, if they can work on their game, they can come back next year and perform even better.

The team was scheduled to return home yesterday.