The line-up for Saturday’s promotion play-offs was decided on Friday as the top two nations in each Pool advanced at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Americas Zone Group III event in Tobago.
On Saturday, Pool A winners Guatemala will play Pool B runners-up Costa Rica, and Pool B winners Bahamas will play Pool A runners-up Haiti. The two victorious teams will gain promotion to Group II in 2013.
Guatemala and Haiti had already guaranteed their progression through the round robin stage before a ball was struck on Friday, but the two teams showed their professionalism by recording 3-0 wins.
Guatemala maintained their 100 per cent record in Pool A with a whitewash triumph over Aruba, who finished the week with four defeats out of four, while Haiti claimed second spot after beating Honduras without dropping a set.
Pool B was more interesting as Bahamas clinched a shock 3-0 victory over Costa Rica to leapfrog their opponents, who had won all their ties until this one, and finish top of the table.
Rodney Carey got Bahamas off to a good start by prevailing in a three-set battle with Pablo Nunez 64 36 63. That result paved the way for Marvin Rolle to clinch the tie with an impressive 61 62 victory over Ignaci Roca.
Carey and Rolle then put the icing on the cake with a 60 62 demolition of Nunez and Roca in the doubles rubber, ensuring that Bahamas would seal top spot in Pool B and condemning Costa Rica to second place.
Jamaica defeated Panama 2-1 in Friday’s other Pool B tie, but it wasn’t enough to force themselves into the play-off positions as they missed out by the narrowest of margins.
With the top four nations competing for a place in next year’s Group II, the remaining teams will all play for position on Saturday. Hosts Trinidad & Tobago meet Jamaica for 5th-6th place, Honduras take on Panama for 7th-8th place, and Aruba face US Virgin Islands for 9th-10th place.
Click here to view more information about the event, including full results.