Cyclist Kaden Hopkins missed out on a bronze medal by just three seconds in the time-trial at the Central American and Caribbean Games on Saturday.

In sweltering conditions, Hopkins finished the course in 49min 10.33sec in Santo Domingo and was just 3.2 seconds slower than Mexican Sebastian Ruiz, who claimed the final spot on the podium.

Perennial regional winner Walter Vargas came out with the gold medal, winning in 47:13.46, with Ruiz’s compatriot Edgar Cadena finishing runner-up in 48:59.68.

Bermuda’s national time-trial champion Nicholas Narraway finished sixth, stopping the clock in 50:03.41.

Elsewhere at the Games, the rugby sevens team made a fine start to their competition, beating Barbados 21-12 in their opening match in Pool B.

Bermuda took a 14-0 lead into half time with the points all scored by Bermuda captain Hadleigh Tucker, who scored two tries and two conversions.

Barbados made a fight of it in the second half, reducing the deficit to 14-12 before Bermuda’s D’Zuri Gill converted his own try to secure the points.

Bermuda play Venezuela later this afternoon in their second game.

Daniel Phillips was knocked out of the men’s singles tennis tournament in the round of 16.

Phillips was beaten 4-6, 7-5, 2-6 by Oscar Martinez, from Venezuela. The Bermudian is due to feature in the men’s doubles tournament later this afternoon but his partner Trey Mallory was unable to complete his singles match yesterday.

The beach volleyball teams were also in action. First to take to the sand was the men’s pair of Benjamin Barnett and Conor Somerville. Competing in group B, the Bermuda pair faced a tough debut against Julian Araya and Stanley Grant, from Costa Rica.

Somerville and Barnett fought hard but fell to a 21-7, 21-10 defeat. Things do not get easier for the Bermudian combination, with their next match coming against Mexican pair Carlos Ayala and Antonio Vargas on Sunday morning.

The women’s team of Natalie Gazzard and Megan Hands are scheduled to play Colombia at 5pm Bermuda time.