Santo Domingo

The boys first advanced from Group 2 of the preliminary phase on Tuesday with a win 3-1 win over the Dominican Republic after suffering a 0-3 loss at the hands of the USA B.

They were then defeated 3-0 in the Round of 16 by Guatemala B on Wednesday.

Malone Bird and Gustavo Borrayo opened proceedings in the tie with a thrilling five-set battle which the Guatemalan eventually won.

Borrayo took the first set 11-8 before Bird won the second in a similar score line to tie the match at one-set all.

Borrayo then re-established a lead with a dominant 11-5 third set win before Bird rallied once again to win the fourth 11-6.

The deciding set was the least competitive as Borrayo ran away with an 11-3 win.

The second singles match between Shacoil Bird and Omar Ixcaragua was far less competitive with the latter winning in straight-sets (11-9, 11-6, 11-4).

The doubles encounter was next which the Guatemalans won in another five-set contest.

Borrayo and Ixcaragua took the first set 11-7 before Jamaica’s Bird brothers made it 1-1 with an 11-9 second set win.

Guatemala took the third in a similar score line as the first before the Jamaicans set up a decisive fifth set with an 11-3 fourth set win.

The deciding set was competitive with both pairs battling to an eventual 11-8 win by Guatemala.

Guatemala B got all the way to the semi-finals of the Boys’ U11 Team category where they lost 3-0 to USA B.

The category was won by USA A who beat USA B 3-2 in the final on Wednesday.

The Bird brothers will open their singles campaigns in the first phase on Thursday.

Malone Bird will take on Guatemala’s Omar Ixcaragua and Canada’s Daniel Liang in Group 3 while Shacoil Bird will face Brazil’s Joao Ribeiro and Ecuador’s Juan Gonzalez in Group 4.

They play Argentina’s Luca Marcial and Valentino Villegas in doubles on Friday.

Bird made it through the group phase after securing one win and one loss in his two matches on Wednesday.

After suffering a straight-set loss at the hands of Canada’s Daniel Liang (11-4, 11-9, 11-7) in his first game, he rebounded with a four-set win over Guatemala’s Omar Ixcaragua.

Bird won the first two sets 11-7 and 11-8 before Ixcaragua tried to mount a comeback with an 11-4 third set victory before the Jamaican shut the door with an 11-6 win in the fourth set.

Unfortunately, the second half of the Bird brothers, Shacoil, didn’t have the same success and failed to advance to the next phase after suffering a pair of straight set losses to Brazil’s Joao Ribeiro (11-7, 11-3, 11-7) and Ecuador’s Juan Gonzalez (11-9, 11-6, 11-1).

The draw for the second phase of the singles will be held on Friday. The Bird brothers will also take on Argentina in doubles on Friday.