There was an air of disappointment in the judo camp yesterday as Marcon Bezzina and Brent Law could only manage a bronze medal on the opening day of competitions at the Lefkothopy Hall.
Bezzina, a Monaco 2007 gold medallist in the -63kg category, failed to defend her title.
In the group phase, Bezzina had the better of Regina Biedermann, of Liechtenstein, but was then outsmarted by Laura De Menech, of Monaco.
In the cross semi-finals, Bezzina was paired with Laura Salles Lopez, the judoka she beat in the final two years ago. This time, however, Bezzina could not overcome her opponent from Andorra and eventually had to settle for third place - a meagre return from someone many had tipped to challenge for gold.
Salles Lopez went on to win the gold medal with De Menech the runner-up.
In the men's 66kg category, Law also reached the semi-final stages with one win from two bouts. His next opponent was Monaco's Habib El Ouachi.
Despite putting up a brave fight, the Maltese judoka could not secure the win that would have put him in the final. Like Bezzina, Law was classified third overall.
Suzannah Vella was another Maltese judoka in action yesterday.
This newcomer was taking part in the -52kg category but failed to advance beyond the round-robin stages after finishing behind Svetlana Breier (Luxembourg), Yamina Allag (Monaco), Mireia Garcia Gonzalez (Andorra) and Cyprus's Penelope Stavrinou.
Alfredo Monti, the Malta coach, was visibly disappointed with the results of his judokas.
"Really, I expected much more today," Monti told The Times.
"I usually hate to make predictions but our preparation in the build-up to the Games was excellent. I felt that both Marcon and Brent should have challenged for a better placing.
"Marcon's performance, in particular, was below-par. We have to analyse what went wrong today but she was not her usual self and that cost her a place in the final.
"Brent looked too timid in his matches in my opinion. He is a much better judoka than he looked today and could have posed a bigger threat to the others."
Monti urged his charges to concentrate on their next events.
"My wish is that this result will spur the others to a greater effort in the team competition," he said.
"Besides, we also have Joanna Camilleri, Kris Law and James Falzon in contention. So, hopefully, by the end of the week our medal tally will be much healthier than today."