Bermuda’s Under-14 squad claimed a major scalp at the International Tennis Federation World Junior Tennis tournament in El Salvador yesterday.

Unseeded Bermuda edged fifth-seeded Panama 2-1 in the best-of-three tie to chalk up their third consecutive victory and set up a showdown with Jamaica in today’s consolation final.

“We looked like they should have been seeded number five today and would be playing in the semi-final of the main draw had we found our stride earlier in the tournament,” Gavin Manders, the Bermuda coach, said.

Benjamin Jones, Bermuda’s No 2 player, got the ball rolling yesterday at the Federación Salvadorena de Tenis after easily dispatching Panama’s Neel Sakhrani 6-3, 6-0 in the opening singles match.

Ricky Mallory Jr, the island’s No 1 player, then dashed any thoughts Panama might have had of rallying after sweeping aside Luis Ching 6-0, 6-1 in the remaining singles match to clinch Bermuda’s third straight victory in as many days.

“Benjamin played at the highest intensity he’s played all week and followed the game plan exactly how I mapped it out,” Manders said. “Trey [Mallory] came out of the gates blazing, making a very solid player look quite mediocre.”

Bermuda were denied a second clean sweep after Mallory and Nicholas Cooper, who is making his international debut for Bermuda at the tournament, lost 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 in an evenly fought doubles contest with Sachin Chhabria and Ching, which was ultimately decided by a super tiebreaker.

Manders said Bermuda will have to once again bring their ‘A’ game in order to get past a formidable and experienced Jamaican team.

“Jamaica is a very strong team with very solid and experienced players,” he said. “We will need to bring the same intensity if we want to be able to take them tomorrow.

“We are ready for the challenge, and are looking forward to a war with Jamaica.”