Bermuda Rugby Football Union (BRFU) kicked off their preparation for next year?s Rugby World Cup Sevens yesterday when a squad flew out for this weekend?s New York Sevens Tournament.

Derek Hurdle will skipper the local squad in what will be the national team?s first visit to the Big Apple event, now in its 45th year.

The tournament is hosted jointly by New York Rugby Club and the Randall?s Island Sports Federation, and attracts close to 100 teams from all around the world.

BRFU chairman David Worsfold said yesterday he considered it an ?ideal tournament? to keep as a mainstay in the national team?s schedule for years to come.

?The New York Sevens is perfect for us,? said Worsfold. ?The administration involved with competing there is minimal, and there is very little strain on our financial resources when compared to travelling somewhere such as Trinidad for the Caribbean Sevens each December.?

Worsfold said he considered sevens rugby essential to the development of young players and with that in mind had selected teenagers Neville Zuill and James Bergl for the weekend tour.

?Both of them have tremendous potential and we hope they enjoy themselves and learn a great deal on this visit,? said the president.

The BRFU will announce a 20-man sevens training squad next week and will send the national sevens team to at least one more overseas tournament before the World Cup next June.

The full squad in New York is: Derek Hurdle, Harry Andrews, Nathan Browne, Anthony Cupidore, Chris Naylor, Graeme Fergusson, Greg Garside, James Bergl, Stewart Thomson, Neville Zuill, Simon Greene and Andre Simons.

Road race champ injured

There will be a new men?s champion in the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA) Half-Marathon this year.

Last year?s winner, Sylvester Jean-Pierre, is injured and will therefore not defend his title in the annual race which starts in St. George?s and heads along North Shore Road before finishing at the Bulls Head car park in Hamilton, tomorrow morning.

?I have a problem with my right Achilles and I?ve had to stop training. I was training up to October for the half-marathon in New York and I had to pull out of that,? Jean-Pierre told .

?I?ll start back in the New Year and get ready for May 24th.?

Meanwhile, reigning women?s champion Anna Eatherley is competing and it will be one of her first events in the Masters division.

Race director Annette Hallett estimated that 50 to 80 runners will take to the road.

?That would be an average turn-out for us. Because of uncertainty over the Causeway being fixed everything was on hold for a while and we didn?t have a chance to make as big an event of it as we would have liked,? she explained.

A seasoned athlete herself, Hallett noted the half-marathon was a good race from which to launch one?s training towards International Race Weekend in mid-January.

?It?s a good race for runners to assess where they are at. If they are a bit behind they still have time to train and improve before Race Weekend.?

Kyme floored in first round

After overcoming a spirited performance from Mexican Merco Mendez in the final round of qualifying, Bermuda?s top squash player Nick Kyme fell at the next hurdle at the Evolution Tournament in Mexico City on Thursday evening, losing in straight games to number two seed Dylan Bennett 3-0 in the first round of the main draw.

Despite taking an early lead in the first game against an opponent ranked more than 80 places above him, the physical rigours of the previous day appeared to take their toll and he went down 13-15, 12-15, 9-15 in just over 40 minutes.

The defeat brings to an end a heartening month for the young Bermudian, who has begun to win matches regularly on the world tour and stands to advance significantly in the world rankings when they are published again on Monday.

Kyme admitted that he was disappointed to have lost but was also relieved to be coming home after such a long stint on the road.

?I really do feel with a little bit more experience under my belt I could have beaten Bennett,? he said.

?I just did not play smart and although the score was three-love, all three games were tight and he just showed a little bit more experience and composure at the crucial moments than me, which is not surprising really, given his ranking and his time on tour.?

?I have to admit I?m pretty shattered,? he continued, ?and I am looking forward to coming home for a rest. It has been one hell of a month. I think I?ve done pretty well. I?ve beaten people ranked above me and I?ve started to realise that I belong among these guys. If I keep going and keep improving at this, you just never know where I?ll end up.?