Table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal, who was carrying the flag for India at the 2024 Olympics, was forced to withdraw from the men’s singles event in Paris on Sunday after losing to lower-ranked Slovenian Deni Kozul.

The 42-year-old Sharath Kamal, who was participating in the Olympic Games for the fifth time, lost 2-4 (12-10, 9-11, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 10-12) to Kozul.

The opening game of the match was won by Sharath 12-10, but he lost the next three games. Although he won the fifth game to make it 2-3, he eventually lost another close game and was eliminated from the competition.

In the first game, the 42-year-old defeated his opponent 12-10. Deni came back for an 11-9 victory in the next game, which he won in just eight minutes. He won both the third game with a score of 11-6, and the fourth game with a score of 11-7.

Sharath gave fans some hope of a comeback by winning Game 5 11-8. In a thrilling match that ended in a 10-12 result, Sharath took an early lead in Game 6, but later lost.

The Slovakian player kept his composure and won the match at the South Paris Arena on Sunday in 53 minutes, even as he made a comeback to win the sixth match by three points.

The defeat ended Sharath’s participation in the men’s singles on a sour note.

On August 5, Sharath will be back in action with the men’s table tennis team.

Earlier, India’s top-ranked table tennis player Sreeja Akula defeated Sweden’s Christina Kallberg 4-0 to reach the round of 16.