Missing out on an Olympic medal can be devastating for some, but for Bradley Saunders, going home empty-handed seemed a relief. The lightwelterweight from Sedgefield, County Durham, had been considered Great Britain's best medal prospect after Frankie Gavin failed to make the weight, and he received a kind draw. But he failed to live up to the billing as he went down to a disappointing 11-7 defeat by Alexis Vastine, of France.

It proved to be a tough day in the ring for Britain, after the elation of David Price's win over Islam Timurziev, the world No1 super-heavyweight from Russia, the night before, with Billy Joe Saunders also beaten, while Tony Jeffries sneaked through to join Price in the quarter-finals.

Bradley Saunders, 22, had beaten Vastine 30-13 in Chicago at the World Amateur Championships last year to secure a bronze medal, but never found his range or rhythm. He spent most of the contest chasing shadows, but even more extraordinary than his performance were his words afterwards, so out of character for a man who seemed so full of ambition.

“I've been training for two years now - to know I've not won a medal has taken a big weight off my shoulders,” Saunders said. “The weight of everything: my job, training, boxing all the time, not seeing my little boy. I want to live a local boy's life now.

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“People working abroad will tell you themselves. What have I done it for? I've never done it for myself. I've done it for my family, my house, to pay my bills. Now I can get a little time off. It's not my time this time. The weight's off my shoulders, I can relax. I'm very disappointed. It's my job, it remains my job, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my family.”

Against a taller opponent, Vastine was able to box on the retreat and pick off Saunders as he jumped in. The Frenchman was 7-2 up at the end of the second round and the lead was extended to 10-3 at the end of the third. Not until the final round did Saunders raise his game, but his effort was too little, too late.

Nerves affected Jeffries, too, as he edged to within one win of a medal with a narrow points win in his first bout in the light-heavyweight competition. Jeffries, who had received a bye in the first round, advanced on countback after his bout against Eleider Álvarez, of Colombia, ended 5-5 on points.

“It's been a long week waiting for my first fight,” Jeffries, who next faces Imre Szello, of Hungary, said. “I've been getting good-luck messages all the time and that puts pressure on you. And because the team has been so successful, that puts pressure on you, too. It's great you've got support, but I don't want to let anyone down.”

The Olympic dream of Billy Joe Saunders, Britain's youngest boxer, fizzled out in his second bout when he was beaten 13-6 by Carlos Banteaux, of Cuba. Saunders, the welterweight, had reason to be aggrieved at the judges, who seemed unwilling to score his punches, but he did run out of ideas as he chased the bout in the later stages.

“The scoring has been so bad here,” Saunders said. “In the last round, if it had been a normal competition, I would have pulled back easily six or seven points with the body shots, but here obviously they are not scoring body shots.”

Saunders said that he is likely to stay amateur until after the London Olympics. “I'm only 18 and there is 2012 to look at,” he said. “And this will be a massive learning experience for that.”