Bermuda is sending three of its best to Mexico next week to the Pan American Sports Festival, with a view to qualifying for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

Micah Franklin, Nick Kyme and Chris Stout make up the team that will represent the Island in singles, doubles and in the team event.

“We’re just looking for that top-eight finish to qualify for Canada next year,” said Patrick Foster, the Bermuda director of squash.

“We always look for great performances and the boys put pressure on themselves anyway. They’re always working hard and trying to do the best they possibly can.

“There is pressure on them, but more from themselves, just to do really well.

“Team-wise, we’re just looking for a qualification at the end of it.”

Franklin and Stout are coming off appearances at the Caribbean Championships in Barbados and will have to contend with some of the world’s best in the larger field in Mexico City.

“The standard in the Caribbean is reasonably high,” Foster added. “There’s some tough competition there, but this is probably a little bit tougher, with the strongest players in the States there, a Canada team in there and some of the South American countries, which have players that are in the top 50 in the world.”

Franklin bowed out of the Caribbean Championships in the quarter-finals after a loss to Chris Binnie, the champion and No?1 seed from Jamaica. Franklin, 21, put in an impressive performance but ultimately fell short in the fifth game.

“Micah was up in the last set and had every chance to win it, but just couldn’t close it out,” Foster said. “He played as well as he could and definitely produced his best for that event.”

Kyme did not make the trip to Barbados, but the 33-year-old will join the team and provide a veteran presence in Mexico. Kyme peaked at No?63 in the world in 2005 and is still a force for Bermuda, coming off a trip to the Commonwealth Games last month in Glasgow, where he competed in singles and doubles.

He and Franklin will aim to reprise their doubles combination that reached the round of 16 at the Games.