SHOOTING: After the highs of yesterday's trap gold medal by Catherine Skinner, it was a frustrating day for Australian pair Adam Vella and Mitchell Iles in the men's competition, despite a clean final round from Vella.

Knowing they had serious work to do to make the final six after Sundays first three qualifying rounds, both the Australian boys failed to gain any real momentum with Iles shooting 22 and Vella 21 in the fourth round to put them well down the pecking order heading into the final round.

In the final round Vella shot perfectly to finish on a score of 115 and Olympic debutant Iles overcame a horrendous start where he missed his first two targets to shoot 23 for a score of 110.

Vella, the Athens bronze medallist says a poor start cost him in the end.

"I tried to push it a bit I think. I knew I had to shoot clean today but I got tense and tight and pushed too hard", he said.

But despite his own disappointment, the 45 year old said the sport in Australia is in good hands.

"Obviously Catherine winning was absolutely fantastic.

"Shooting Australia has done a great job. The program is working.

"Everyone here is a great person. Really professional and I'm here to help in any way I can."

Earlier in the day both Australians failed to advance to the last eight of the men's 10 metre air rifle.

Dane Sampson was 37th in qualifying with a score of 619.3 while Jack Rossiter was 46th on a score of 612.4.

DAMIAN KELLY