Ja miss out on Davis Cup qualification

Jamaica's men's Davis Cup team failed to advance to the next stage of the Americas Group III qualifiers despite scoring a 2-1 win over Honduras in their final match of the group in Escazu, Costa Rica, yesterday.

The Jamaican team, which needed to win all three games to secure one of the two available spots, could manage only two wins in three games, and as a result, Honduras got the runner-up spot, which put them through to the next phase along with group winners Bahamas. Jamaica will play their final game, for fifth place, against Cuba today.

Yesterday, Dimitri Bird went down 6-1, 6-1 to Alejandro Obando, but Rowland Phillips rebounded for the Jamaicans with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Jaime Bendeck. In the doubles, Bird and Phillip turned back the challenge of Abando and Keny Turcios 7-6, 6-2 to claim the win.

Jamaica ended with the same record - two wins and two losses - as Honduras. The latter, however, won seven sets and lost five while Jamaica won six and lost six.