HOW Bermuda could have used sprinter Troy Douglas at these Games! Four years ago in Victoria, the then 31-year-old became the first Bermudian to advance to a Commonwealth Games sprint final, and two years later appeared in his third successive Olympic semi-final before defecting to Holland where he has lived and trained for several years.

But at 35, the outspoken Douglas who continually complained about failing to get the home country recognition and support he felt he deserved and chose instead to wear the orange vest of the Netherlands, is still running as fast as ever.

At this week's World Cup in Johannesburg, Douglas, competing for the European team, collected the 200 metres bronze medal, finishing behind Namibia's Frankie Fredericks and the USA's Gentry Bradley.

His time? A respectable 20.4 seconds -- more than three tenths of a second faster than he clocked in the Victoria Games final.

And on that showing, he would have been almost a shoo-in for another final appearance this week and quite likely a medal contender.

Instead, Bermuda's smallest track and field team in recent memory, devoid of the injured Brian Wellman, will pin their hopes on 1500 metres runner Terrance Armstrong and teenage high jumper Ronan Kane, neither of whom are seen as realistic medal hopes.

Armstrong, while the best middle distance runner Bermuda has produced for many years, faces a daunting task with a host of top Africans in the field including three Kenyans who, on their arrival in Kuala Lumpur this week, proclaimed it was their intention to lower Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj's world record of three minutes, 26.00 seconds, set in July.

*** SHARING a taxi into the city this week with England's rising squash star Paul Johnson, I asked whether he'd thought of playing in the Bermuda Open.

He said he had and hoped to receive an invitation next time around.

Failing that the 26-year-old reckoned he could always pay a visit courtesy of Australia's top player Rodney Eyles who owns a home on the Island.

Fat chance of that happening.

On Monday, Johnson pulled off one of the upsets of the squash tournament, sending Eyles packing in straight sets 9-1, 10-8, 9-2.

It was a crushing defeat for the fourth ranked player in the world, who was seeded third here and touted as a medal certainty. His surprise exit left the fancied Aussies without a player in the semi-finals.