William Vella finished seventh and last in the Prone discipline yesterday morning.

It was the average over the first six rounds that really let him down. The fact that this discipline is not practised in Malta and there is no range where he can practice, did not help Vella’s cause yesterday.

At the end of the final, Vella remained in seventh place with a total of 97.6 points for a grand total of 652.6 points.

The results in the first six rounds were 94, 97, 95, 95, 89 and 85 for a total of 555.

Leading the pack were Gudmundur Helgi Christensen of Iceland and Andorra’s Alvina Barrugues. They both scored 580. Eric Lanza followed on 579.

One also has to mention that Vella has to be credited with the best score in the second set – he registered a fine 97, ahead of the remaining six shooters.

In the final, Vella’s scores were 9.6, 10.1, 10.4, 10.6, 8.8, 8.4, 10.2, 9.2, 10.2, 10.1.

Christensen of Iceland finished on top to win the gold medal with 681 points, two ahead of Eric Lanza of Monaco who finished on 279. Third was another Iceland shooter, Jon Thor Sigurdsson on 678.9.