We are sure that the first person to be disappointed with the result achieved by William Chetcuti in the double trap event at the Olympic Games last Thursday was the shooter himself.

He knows he could have done better; he knows that he has the credentials to make it in the top six of the competition and fight for a medal. But on the day he was not in his top form. He gave it his best shot, he said afterwards, and we are sure of that, but on the day it was not enough to land him a place in the final.

He was only two clay targets short of making it into the top six, but shooting is that kind of sport. Some athletes lose a medal by 0.1 of a second, even less, in other sports such as swimming and athletics; in shooting, it is the number of targets that are counted, and the ones Chetcuti missed ended his dream – and that of many Maltese sport enthusiasts.

Many were hoping it would finally be the day when Malta achieved a great result in sport. Many were hooked on what was taking place in London last Thursday morning, thanks to the Public Broadcasting Services who were giving a target by target commentary of the event.

At the end of the day, a ninth place is not a bad result. William Chetcuti made it to the Olympic Games on his own merit, not because of places allocated to small countries by the International Olympic Committee. A ninth place in the world is a great result for a Maltese sportsman, and is not too far away from the eighth position William had achieved in Beijing four years ago. That remains the best ever result obtained by any Maltese sportsman in the Olympic Games.

Still, Malta continues to wait for its moment of glory at the Olympic Games. William has already set his eyes on the Brazil Olympics in 2016; he is still a relatively young shooter, as many in his sport continue to be in the topmost ranks well into their middle age.

We do hope that the experience he has gained in London – as well as the tough preparation he will have to go through in the next four years – will serve him well in Brazil.

Maybe, hopefully, William will not have one of his bad days on the day of the competition. We are sure that he is worth more than the 135 targets he hit from the 150 he had.