Maltese athlete Eleonor Bezzina was eliminated from the 10m Air Pistol competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games after finishing 26th overall in the qualifying phase with a score of 570.

The best eight shooters from 53 qualified for the final.

Bezzina will be in action on 29 and 30 July in the 25m Pistol (Precision and Rapid) qualifying events.

Badminton player Matthew Abela played lost 2-0 (21-8, 21-9) against 11th seed of China Shi You Qi. 

Abela was drawn in Group H, with players divided into 16 groups of between three and four players each. Each group will play a round-robin. The top player in each group will advance to the knockout rounds.

The youngest member of the Maltese contingent, Sasha Gatt, finished sixth in the 400 metre freestyle heats.

Gatt finished with a time of 4:19.78, one second over the current national record she set in June.

She will be competing in the 1,500 metre freestyle event on Monday evening.