By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net    

THE 2024 Billie Jean King Cup (BJKC) Americas Group III Tournament did not end with the best results for Team Bahamas in Tacarigua, Trinidad & Tobago. 

The quartet of veterans Sydney Clarke, Simone Pratt, Danielle Thompson and newcomer Tatyana Madu finished the competition ranked eighth overall and fourth in the Pool A Nations standings with a 1-3 win/loss record.

The BJKC team suffered back-to-back losses over the weekend at the National Racquet Centre. 

Group play wrapped up for The Bahamas with a 2-1 loss in the tie against Jamaica headed into the positional playoffs. 

In the final match of the tourney, The Bahamas battled against Bermuda and were defeated 2-1 in the seventh to eighth playoff.

Team head coach Kim O’Kelley expressed her outlook on the performance of The Bahamas in the BJKC Americas Group III Tournament.

“We definitely had our chances to win  the tie against Trinidad and Jamaica.Simone got injured for the doubles when we had to play Jamaica, We had match points in the doubles against Barbados and in the last tie against Bermuda, both Simone and Sydney were injured.

“Danielle won her match against Bermuda, but we couldn’t pull it off in the doubles. Overall, I think we had some good matches. We will just have to train much harder for next year,” she said. 

On Friday, The Bahamas was hoping to rebound from consecutive losses in their tie against Jamaica, the final match of pool play. The crafty veteran Clarke was up first against Jamaica’s Adeola Greatorex in singles competition. The Bahamian player got the edge in the match and defeated her opponent 6-3,6-4 in straight sets. 

WIth The Bahamas ahead 1-0, the reigning Giorgio Baldacci open national champion was up next in singles competition. Pratt displayed a valiant effort against Jamaica’s Najah Dawson but came up short 6-3,6-3 in consecutive sets.

The doubles matchup would not only decide who would win the tie but also positioning in the Pool A rankings. Clarke teamed up with rookie Madu and gave the Jamaican duo of Dawson and Greatorex a challenge in the initial set but lost 6-4. Jamaica placed the nail in the coffin in set two with a 6-2 victory.

The Bahamas and Bermuda went head-to-head in the Americas Group III seventh to eighth playoff. Clarke and Pratt were missing from the action due to injuries which left it up to Madu and Thompson to shoulder the load. 

The 15-year-old Grand Bahama native had a tough time against Bermuda’s Shelby Madeiros. Madu was knocked off 6-2,6-0. Thompson, on the other hand, made it look easy against Nadhira Durham, utilisiing experience to defeat her opponent 6-0,6-0. 

Thompson and Madu tried to pull off an upset against Bermuda but came up short in their efforts versus Zoe Fisher and Madeiros. Bermuda’s competitors won the sets 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). 

Ten nations competed in Pool A and B combined. Costa Rica and Barbados were the top two nations to advance to Americas Group II. The Bahamas will remain in the Americas Group III for competition next year.

The team returned home yesterday.