Bermuda suffered their second straight defeat at the Junior Davis Cup North/Central America and Caribbean prequalifying tournament in El Salvador yesterday.

The team of Trey Mallory, Tariq Simons and Scott Redmond went down 2-1 against the Dominican Republic in a fifth-place play-off, 24 hours after losing to third seeds Aruba in the quarter-finals.

Bermuda trailed the best-of-three series after Tariq Simons lost the opening singles match against Jasel Beltre 6-1, 7-5.

Mallory brought the countries level after breezing to a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Joaquin Caballer in the second singles to extend his record in singles action to a perfect 4-0.

This set up a deciding doubles match, which Mallory and Redmond lost 6-0, 6-2.

Bermuda will play their final match today against Barbados in a play-off to determine seventh and eighth.

The island’s trio have achieved several milestones at this week’s tournament.

They are the first local team to win their group and reach the top half of the play-off round, while stunning victories over group E rivals Jamaica and Puerto Rico were also a first for Bermuda at this level.

Bermuda suffered their first loss of the tournament against Aruba on Thursday in a thrilling series that was ultimately decided on a super tie-break in the doubles.

“We had a legitimate chance to win the fixture,” Ricky Mallory, the Bermuda coach, said. “Unfortunately, points just didn’t go Bermuda’s way with some unfortunate unforced errors ultimately costing them.

“I told them to leave it all on the court, to dig deep and give it their all. Our team competed at their best and pushed Aruba to their limits. It was anyone’s match and unfortunately we were not successful.”

The Junior Davis Cup is an international team competition for boys aged 16 and under, and was launched by the ITF in 1985.