A poor score in the opening round of the Double Trap singles event proved costly for William Chetcuti as he failed to make the cut for the barrage at the Karni Sing Range in New Delhi, yesterday.

Medal hopeful Chetcuti only managed 41 from the opening 50 clays and that left him with a mountain to climb to reach the top six.

Chetcuti fared much better in the next two rounds when hitting 47 and 48 but that was not enough as he finished the qualifying round with 136 clays, just one short of England’s Steven Scott who took the sixth and final place for the barrage.

The outcome must have left the Maltese contingent in Delhi disappointed as many were hoping to see Chetcuti challenging for a place on the podium after winning bronze in the last two editions of the Games.

Nathan Lee Xuereb, Malta’s other representative in Double Trap, finished 14th from 20 shooters after a total of 128 clays (41, 39, 48).

England’s Stevan Walton, winner of the pairs event, won his second gold of the Games when topping the charts on 190. Indian duo Ronjan Sodhi and Asher Noria had to settle for silver and bronze respectively.

Today, focus shifts on Trap pairs. Malta’s hopes will be pinned on Rebecca Madyson and Kate Cassar, in the women’s category, and Nazzareno Attard and Jason J. Aquilina in the men’s shoot.

Meanwhile, in lawn bowls, Brendan Aquilina and Francis M. Vella kept alive their hopes of progressing to the next round after back-to-back victories in pairs yesterday.

They beat Guernsey 2-0 (10-6, 16-6) and Malawi 2-0 (16-4, 10-8). Today they play Wales and Jersey.

Joe Saragozza, Leonard Callus and Michael Debono have seen their chances of making the next round all but ended after they lost to Namibia 2-0 (4-11, 6-12) in the triples competition.