The tennis segment of the 6th Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is now over for Team Bahamas.
Bahamian Donte Armbrister gave it all he could yesterday, but came up just short against Eleftherios Neos, of Cyprus, in boys singles. Isabel Donaldson lost in straight sets in girls singles, and the duo of Armbrister and Donaldson fell in the mixed doubles competition.
In boys singles, in a match that was delayed twice because of rain, Armbrister battled hard but fell in straight sets to a player who is ranked nearly 1,000 slots ahead of him on the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) rankings for juniors. Armbrister lost, 6-4 and 6-3.
Armbrister is at number 1265 in the ITF Juniors Rankings, and his opponent Neos was at number 278 going into the match. Still, that didn't stop the gutsy young Bahamian from giving it his all against the more seasoned Neos.
"It was a good match. Congratulations to my opponent from Cyprus -- he fought a bit harder and came out on top," said Armbrister yesterday. "I feel as though I'm progressing. I just have to continue to work harder and I'll get there. The experience was wonderful. Playing in the Commonwealth Youth Games at home is an amazing feeling. I appreciate the support that I got from the crowd."
Armbrister was broken just twice in the match, but both came at crucial moments. At 3-4 in the second set, and serving at 15-30, he served up his only double fault in the match. Two points later, Neos got the break with a forehand winner. Going in for the kill, Neos served out the match at love, ending it on an ace. Neos will now move on to the quarter-finals.
In girls singles, in the round of 16, Donaldson came up short to Anika Seneviratne, of Sri Lanka. She lost in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-3.
In mixed doubles, the team of Armbrister and Donaldson fell to James Story and Morgan Cross, of Wales, in straight sets. They lost, 6-2 and 6-1.
It was another rough day on the field for The Bahamas in rugby sevens as they lost convincingly in two games yesterday. The Bahamas fell to Canada, 42-0, and were shut out by Sri Lanka, 76-0. The team has completely whitewashed in the majority of its games, scoring just five points over the two days of competition. They will play again this morning in the fifth and sixth place game when they take on Sri Lanka again. That match is set for 9 a.m. today.

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