Bermuda will look to end the ITF World Junior Tennis North Central America & Caribbean prequalifying in Dominican Republic on Saturday on a high note when they face Barbados in a seventh-place playoff after losing 3-0 to Costa Rica on Friday.

Trystan Thompson, in his singles debut at the tournament, went up against Samuel Romero, with the Costa Rican victorious 6-0, 6-0. Raul Maldonado had an opportunity to level matters for Bermuda, but he was defeated 6-1, 6-0 by Hector Cruz.

Seeking a consolation victory, coach Evan Heyliger fielded Thompson and Manuel Maldonado in the doubles. While the pair fought hard, they came out second best 6-1, 6-2 to Cruz and Fabian Pozuelo.

Following a week filled with mixed results, Heyliger indicated that the players are ready to go out with a fight against No 5 seed Barbados.

“The boys are excited to play and close out the week with a bang,” the coach said.

“Playing against Barbados should be an exciting match as they have one of the best players in the region, so we’ll see if he plays.”

Reflecting on the matches against Costa Rica, the Bermuda coach expressed satisfaction with the way the island’s blossoming stars handled their assignments.

“Trystan enjoyed himself, he came off the court in high spirits,’’ the coach said.

“It will be a good experience for him, he is learning some lessons that he’ll take to the under-12s later this year. He did better than we expected with the rallies, he was able to keep pace with his older opponent.

“Raul produced the effort that we expected from him for a large portion of the match. He lost his match but his contest was a little closer, he was able to get a couple of games against a consistent opponent.

“Manuel and Trystan implemented the doubles concepts that we've been working on all week. They communicated well and started reading the game.

“If they play the same way in the under-12 later this year, they’ll be one of the best teams in the tournament.’’