Jay Meena, 26, has won India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis, securing bronze in the men’s singles event at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Wednesday, September 23.
The Dewas-born player reached the semifinals after a dramatic 4-3 quarter-final victory over the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit, overturning a 3-5 deficit in the deciding game to win 7-5. A semifinal berth guaranteed a medal, as both losing semifinalists receive bronze.
Meena then lost 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka at Nagoya’s Higashiyama Park Tennis Center, ending his campaign with a historic bronze. Soft tennis has been part of the Asian Games medal programme since Hiroshima 1994, making Meena the first Indian to reach its podium in more than three decades.
His achievement is the latest step in a rise that includes India’s first World Soft Tennis Championships medal in 2024 and the country’s first Asian Soft Tennis Championships medal in 2025.
Meena has also credited the support of the Indian federation and government, including international camps in Korea and Japan, for helping him prepare for his third Asian Games.
From Ball Boy To Medallist
Meena’s journey to the Asian Games podium began far away from the spotlight, at Pioneer Public School in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. As a teenager, he wanted to become a cricketer, but his path changed after he encountered a soft tennis court at school.
Initially curious, he watched players and eventually began helping as a ball boy before taking up the racket himself. By the age of 14, he was competing internationally in Japan, the country where soft tennis originated and remains deeply established.
His progression continued through school, district, state and national competitions. He won men’s singles gold at the 36th National Games in Gujarat in 2022 and became the national champion in 2025. His international breakthrough came in 2024 when he and Aadhya Tiwari won bronze in mixed doubles at the World Soft Tennis Championships, becoming part of India’s first medal-winning pair at the event.
A year later, Meena became the first Indian to win an individual medal at the Asian Soft Tennis Championships, taking men’s singles bronze and collecting four medals at the continental event.
Speaking ahead of the Asian Games, Meena said international exposure had strengthened the team’s confidence and recalled that India had never previously won an Asian Games medal in the sport.
He also thanked the Sports Ministry and government for their support, saying Indian players had spent four to five months training and competing in Korea and Japan.
The Match That Made History
The historic medal was secured in a quarter-final that went down to the wire. Meena had already defeated Pakistan’s Hussain Arain 4-0 in the group stage before facing the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in the last eight. Nuguit took the opening game 4-0, but Meena responded to level the contest, with the two players repeatedly exchanging games.
With the match tied at 3-3, Meena trailed 3-5 in the deciding game and appeared close to elimination. Instead, he won four consecutive points to take the game 7-5 and the match 4-3, booking his place in the semifinals and automatically guaranteeing India its first Asian Games soft tennis medal.
Meena’s semifinal against Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka proved tougher. The Indian fell three games behind before fighting back to win the fourth and fifth, including a 6-4 fifth game. Kurosaka, however, closed out the contest 4-2 to advance to the gold-medal match, leaving Meena with bronze.
His third Asian Games appearance had therefore produced what his previous two campaigns had not: an Asian Games podium finish. Meena had earlier represented India at Jakarta 2018 and reached the men’s singles quarter-finals at the Hangzhou Games.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Jay Meena’s medal is more than a result on a scoreboard; it highlights what can happen when sporting opportunities, sustained international exposure and institutional support meet an athlete willing to build a career in a less-publicised discipline. Soft tennis has been part of the Asian Games medal programme since 1994, yet India had waited more than three decades for its first podium finish.
Meena’s story also offers a reminder that sporting dreams do not always follow a predictable route: a schoolboy who once wanted to play cricket discovered an unfamiliar sport, began as a ball boy and eventually became its first Indian Asian Games medallist.
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