Malta suffered another two consecutive defeats on the third day of the World Team Championships in Guangzhou, China.
Playing in Qualifying Group N, the Maltese lost narrowly to Montenegro 3-2 but then lost 3-0 to Jamaica. Earlier, they had opened with a 3-0 win over Sierra Leone and then lost 3-0 to Group leaders Qatar.
They now had only one more match to play and that was against Maldives during the past night.
In the match against Montenegro, Mario Genovese gave Malta a 1-0 lead by beating Samir Alilovic 3-1 in the opening game. The Maltese veteran won 11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9.
Edward Baldacchino was then unlucky to lose 3-0 to Nikola Juskovic (13-11, 14-12 and 11-3). David Pace won the first set against Milan Djukic 11-4. The latter won the second 11-7, but Pace hit back to win the third 11-5. Djukic then went on to win the final two sets 11-9, 11-6 to clinch the game and put Montenegro 2-1 up.
Malta hit back to level matters in the fourth game between Edward Baldacchino and Samir Alilovic, which Baldacchino won in five sets. After losing the opening set 11-6, Baldacchino levelled by winning the second 11-5. Then he took the lead after winning the third set 12-10. Alilovic equalised after winning the fourth frame 11-3, but Baldacchino made sure of Malta forcing the decisive fifth game by beating his opponent 11-9 in the final set to clinch the tie.
In the final match, Genovese faced Nikola Juskovic and the latter appeared to be heading for an easy win after winning the first set easily 11-2. Genovese fought back admirably in the second and third sets, but Juskovic was still able to win narrowly 11-9, 11-9 for a 3-0 win and an overall 3-2 win for Montenegro.
Jamaica were then superior to the Maltese trio who all lost their matches 3-1. Pace lost to Joseph Dibbs while Edward Baldacchino went down to Darryl Strachan. Peter Moo Young had the better of Mario Genovese.
Qatar lead the group standings with eight points, followed by Jamaica and Montenegro on seven, Malta five, Sierra Leone and Maldives three each.