Double Trap shooter William Chetcuti was a whisker away from qualifying to the top-six finals of the ISSF World Cup event which was held in Al Ain, UAE, yesterday.
Chetcuti managed a remarkable score of 140 (30, 29, 28, 28, 25) from a possible 150 after five rounds of competition, the same tally as Derek Haldeman (US) and Hubert Olejnik (Slovakia).
A shoot-off was required to determine the one joining Russian Vasely Mosin (143 points), Italian duo Davide Casparini (142) and Marco Innocenti (141) and James Willet (Australia, 142) in the finals.
Both Haldeman and Olejnik were successful in the first pair but Chetcuti missed one clay that stopped his progress in the competition.
That upset also meant the Maltese competitor had missed out on a possibility of an Olympic Games quota place.
The other Maltese shooter in the Al Ain Double Trap shoot, Nathan Lee Xuereb, could only manage 132 after rounds of 24, 24, 26 and two 29s.
The gold medal went to Mosin who beat Innocenti 26-25 in the final. Casparini was the bronze medallist with Haldeman settling for fourth place ahead of Willet and Oljenik. Chetcuti was classified seventh overall.
Rennie Deguara took part in the Trap competition.
Coach Jimmy Bugeja accompanied the Maltese shooters in the UAE.