Nepal’s Santoo Shrestha crashed out of the table tennis competition of the Paris Olympics from the preliminary round after he lost his men’s singles match to Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw in straight sets of 4-0 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles on Saturday.

Santoo was toe to toe with Senegalese Diaw in the first set but eventually lost the close contest 12-10. After going 1-0 down, he could not continue the intensity and lost the remaining sets 11-3, 11-4, 11-5.

Diaw progressed to the Round of 64.

The 24-year-old Santoo is only the third Nepali player to have qualified for the Olympics through a selection tournament after Sangina Baidya (Athens 2004) and Deepak Bista (Beijing 2008). Santoo had won a gold medal at the South Asian Qualification Tournament in Kathmandu in May this year.

This is also the first time Nepal was making its debut in table tennis at the Olympics.

Nepal has sent seven athletes to the Paris Olympics.

Swimmer Duana Lama will compete in the women’s 200 m freestyle heat on Sunday.

Sunday’s other action includes the women’s 10 m air rifle event. Sushmita Nepal is representing Nepal in shooting in Paris.

Judoka Manita Shrestha Pradhan will face Marica Perisic of Serbia in the women’s 57 kg weight category Elimination round of 32 on Monday. Shrestha Pradhan has been drawn in the Pool A in women’s judo competition which will be held at the Grand Palais Ephemere.

Swimmer Alexander Shah will compete in men’s 100 m freestyle heat on Tuesday.

Long-distance runner Santoshi Shrestha will participate in the women’s marathon on August 11.