William Chetcuti finished eighth out of 34 competitors in double trap at the ISSF World Cup in Cairo yesterday.
The Maltese shooter had been in contention for a berth in the final barrage after attaining scores of 45 and 44 in the opening two rounds.
Chetcuti then smashed 45 clays in the third and final stage of the qualifying round for a total of 134 points, just one adrift of US shooter Jeffrey Holguin and China's Li Shuangchun who tied for sixth place.
In the shoot-off, Holguin edged out Shuangchun to claim the sixth and last spot in the competition's final.
Italy's Francesco D'Aniello won the gold medal with a total of 185 points, two more than second-placed Rashid Al-Athba of Qatar.
Hungary's Roland Gerebics was third on 182 with Sweden's Hakan Dalhby (180) fourth after winning a shoot-off against Saif Alshamsy (UAE). Holguin had to settle for sixth place on 177 points.
Although Chetcuti will have been disappointed at missing out on a place in the final, his participation in yesterday's high-level shoot should pep up his preparations for the 2009 Cyprus GSSE which start on June 1.
Having stuck gold when shooting was last in the GSSE programme in Andorra 2005, Chetcuti, who was eighth in double trap at last year's Beijing Olympics, is regarded among the favourites to challenge for top spot on the podium in Cyprus.