Under-12 Bermuda team upset second seeds in overseas tennis tournament
There have been mixed results for the Bermuda boys team at the Central American & Caribbean Tennis Confederation under-12 tennis tournament in Dominican Republic.
The Bermuda team are one of five teams competing along with two sided from the host nation, and one from Puerto Rico and Bahamas, with the touurnament starting on Monday and scheduled to conclude on Friday.
Coach Steve Bean is leading the island’s contingent, which is made up of Hasan Khan, Raul Maldonado and Manuel Maldonado.
In their first morning of action, Bermuda upset No. 2 seeds Puerto Rico 2-1, with Bean pleased with his yound side’s performance.
“Hasan was up first and won 6-1, 7-5,’’ Bean said.
“It was a tight second set but Hasan handled the pressure very well. He is a small guy and his opponent was almost twice his size, but Hasan has such nice touch and is so smart that he is able to balance things out. What he lacks in power, he makes up for in his thoughtfulness and his game strategy.
“Next up was Raul, who lost, and it came down to the doubles and I could not put Manuel in as he is only ten years old and I couldn't send him in for his first match in a 1-1 situation.
So, Raul played with Hasan and those guys pulled that match off, 7-5, 6-3. I was so proud of those boys.”
It was a far tougher day on Tuesday with the side losing 3-0 against the top seeds from the Dominican Republic.
“Quite frankly, they are a level above everybody else and have awesome singles players,” Bean said.
“We let our ten-year old Manuel play first and he lost, but to his credit he fought hard and played some really nice points. His opponent gave him a hug at the end of the match because he thought Manuel played so well.
Bermuda are set to face Dominican Republic’s second team on Wednesday before taking on the Bahamas on Thursday.
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