The Bermuda flag flew high in Italy over Cup Match as locals took on some of the world's greatest in beach tennis ¿ a relatively new sport for the home team.

Top-ranked tennis player Andy Bray and tourism activist and avid player Tony Brannon travelled to Marina di Ravenna to represent Bermuda in the Beach Tennis World Championships.

Although relatively inexperienced at the game, the pair were able to win one match against Switzerland in the early rounds but subsequently lost to Italy and Australia. Despite that latter disappointment, they measured the trip a success in that it served their purpose of encouraging some of the sport's elite players to attend a competition planned on the island next month.

"Andy Bray and I were in Italy to drum up interest in the Bermuda tournament on September 19, 20 and 21 at Horseshoe Bay," said Mr. Brannon.

"We were entered in the World Championship Beach Tennis. Giandomenico Bellettini, president of the Italian Federation of Beach Tennis, invited us to come over, waived our registration fees and comped our hotel.

"Considering Bermuda has only played beach tennis for a short while we managed to account respectably of ourselves by winning one match against Switzerland, 7-3. The next day was the World Championships and that's when reality set in. In the round robin we lost to two Italian teams, 7-0 and 7-1, and then we went up against Australia, who have been playing for a number of years, and lost 7-2 and so we were eliminated.

"We just haven't played long enough. Andy is a great tennis player but it's a totally different sport. I think there are 30,000 beach tennis courts on the Adriatic. By the time kids are five, they're out there with their racquets and people play until they're 60, 70 years old. It was an eye-opener for us. But we had the Bermuda flag flying high above Ravenna."

Beach tennis was developed in Aruba in 2000. Beach Tennis USA was launched five years later, after the game became popular, first in New York and then other parts of North America.

Mr. Brannon said: "(It) is an exciting new sport that offers an excellent cardio workout with low impact to the knees and joints.

"It's a lot like regular tennis, except beach tennis is played on a regulation beach volleyball court, using a slightly depressurised tennis ball."

He added that anywhere between 80 and 90 residents have become enamoured with the sport since he and Mark Cordeiro, tennis director at the Fairmont Southampton, launched Beach Tennis Bermuda in May, and began holding regular matches.

Such success in a short period bodes well for attendance at the organisation's upcoming tournament, he believes.

"For our first tournament we'll probably have two dozen to 30 people visit for the tournament."

Novice and elite players will be able to participate in the three-day event, which will culminate with a beach party featuring The Merrymen, a Barbados group billed as "the hottest calypso band from the Caribbean".

Whether a participant or a spectator, the tournament is likely to prove of interest, Mr. Brannon believes.

"If you're not a tennis player, you're going to love it and if you are a tennis player you will have a leg up in beach tennis," he insisted.

"And if nothing else, it's fun to watch."

For more information on Bermuda's upcoming tournament, visit www.beachtennisbermuda.com.