Bermuda will have another year's wait to try for Davis Cup promotion again.

The Island's bid for elevation to the American Zone Group Three derailed completely in Costa Rica on Saturday when they crashed to a 2-1 defeat in the final round to the US Virgin Islands in the Group Four tournament.

The latter's victory - secured with back-to-back success in both singles matches - saw them being promoted for the first time in their Davis Cup history. The feat was all the more impressive as the USVI came last in 2002 and had never before beaten Bermuda.

Bermuda had needed to win their tie and hope that frontrunners Costa Rica beat Panama for them to finish in the top two. However, the result of the latter tie proved inconsequential as the Bermudians saw their chances evaporate in the morning session.

First, Jenson Bascome lost to Kenny Callendar 6-3, 7-6 before Bermuda's number one seed James Collieson was blitzed 6-3, 6-0 by veteran Eugene Highfield. That made the afternoon doubles insignificant - except for restoring some pride - and Bermuda's coach and captain Steve Bean therefore opted to give 17-year-old Jovan Whitter some more experience.

The teenager and Ricky Mallory fought a gallant battle to emerge with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over John Richards and Nicholas Bass.

"We were already out of the picture and the Virgin Islands won the first set (in doubles) and our players said `We got to win one of these matches and this is it'. Ricky and Jovan fought back and won those next two sets.

"It at least finishes the week off on a winning note. To lose 3-0, we would have felt even worse," said Bean.

Acknowledging it was "so disheartening" to come so close to promotion again but ultimately fail, he said the difference between the USVI and Bermuda was that the former "wanted it more".

"It had a lot to do with desire. They had a huge desire and they fought hard and played well and deserve to advance.

"Their destiny was in their own hands. All they needed to do was beat us. We needed to beat them and hope that somebody else won.

"At one stage we were leading the tournament and with a very good chance of advancing. Even after losing to Costa Rica (last Friday) we still had a slim chance of going through.

"It was tight tennis all the way. I just wish we could have been a little more competitive. The opportunities were there."

Bean said Bascome began pretty flat against Callendar and was 4-0 down in the second set when "his pride kicked in".

"There was no way he wanted to lose the set 6-0 so he started playing like he's capable of playing and took it to a tie-breaker which he lost at about 7-4 or 7-5.

"I felt that had he played the way he's capable of playing throughout he could have beaten that guy."

Collieson, however, never stood a chance against Highfield whom Bean said was "on fire" from the start.

"He did everything right and James couldn't come up with the crucial points. Once he got on top of James he kept the pressure on. He finished the second set off in fine style."