The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH they suffered their first loss in the 2021 COTECC Under-12 Tournament in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, coach Marion Bain said the Bahamas’ three-member team will still have a chance to advance to the finals in November.

It’s just a matter of which position they get today as they wrap up play in the week-long qualifying tournament, which is played with a two singles and a doubles format per match at the Centro Nacional de Tenis Parque del Este.

In their fourth match of the week-long qualifying tournament, the Bahamas’ team of Brianna Houlgrave, Grand Bahamian Tatyana Madu and Kaylah Fox suffered a heartbreaking 3-0 loss to the host Dominican Republic.

Houlgrave, an 11-year-old student of Windsor Academy, lost in identical straight sets of 6-2, 6-2 to Daniela McCarlo in the first singles match. Fox, an 11-year-old student of St Andrew’s, played in the second singles, losing 7-5, 6-1 to Julienny de Cruz.

And in the doubles, Madu, a 12-year-old student of Bishop Michael Eldon, teamed up withHoulgrave, but ended up dropping a 6-1, 6-1 decision to the Dominican Republic’s pair of McCarlo and Valeria Santana.

“We played well. The girls played well, being faced with playing the number one seeds in the tournament,” Bain said. “These girls (Dominicans) did not drop a set in the tournament. They were more experienced than our girls, but we played them our hardest.

“The fact of the matter is that our girls did not close out the points when they needed to. They were not experienced playing at this level against the older, stronger and more experienced girls, but they did a good job.”

Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association president Perry Newton said despite not getting the victory yesterday, he was encouraged by the effort turned in by the team. “We learn from every match and it makes our athletes better,” he said. “Tatyana, Brianna and Kaylah are a very talented trio. We are optimistic about tomorrow (today) and believe the team will finish strong.”

Newton noted that coach Bain has kept the players focused and he’s grateful for her leadership during these unusual times. “We are also thankful to the BLTA travelling committee for organising the trip, which takes a fair bit of coordination and planning with the restrictions in place.”

Today, the Bahamas will play their final match against US Virgin Islands where they will play for either 2nd or 3rd place.

The top three teams will automatically move on to the final in November.

“It’s the first time for these girls, so playing for second place is a great achievement,” Bain said. “For the past six years, it’s only two years ago that we finished third in this tournament, so it’s a great achievement for the girls and I’m happy with the way they played throughout the week.”