Jay Meena scripts history, wins India's first soft tennis medal
Synopsis
PM Narendra Modi hailed Jay Meena's historic bronze in soft tennis at the Asian Games, India's first-ever medal in the sport. Meena lost in the semi-finals. India also secured medals in weightlifting, shooting, and saw wins in other sports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Jay Meena on Wednesday after the Indian scripted history by winning the country’s first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis, securing bronze in the men’s singles event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026. The Prime Minister’s Office shared a post on X, saying, "A historic achievement for Indian Soft Tennis! Congratulations to Jay Meena on winning Bronze in the Men’s Individual event and becoming India’s first-ever Asian Games medallist in Soft Tennis. His achievement marks a memorable new chapter for the sport in India. May this medal inspire many more youngsters to take up Soft Tennis and excel. Best wishes to him for the journey ahead: PM @narendramodi"
Meena's Journey to Bronze
Meena’s campaign ended in the semi-finals, where he lost 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka. The Indian dropped the first three sets before fighting back to win the fourth and fifth sets and reduce the deficit to 2-3. However, Kurosaka won the sixth set 4-1 to seal the contest. The final scoreline was 3-5, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1, 6-4, 1-4, according to ESPN.
Meena had earlier secured his place in the semi-finals by defeating the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in a thrilling quarter-final. With all semi-finalists assured of a medal, his victory guaranteed India a historic podium finish in the sport.
India's Productive Day at the Games
India enjoyed a productive day across several disciplines on Wednesday, with Mirabai Chanu winning silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event, while the men’s and women’s skeet teams claimed bronze medals. India’s women’s hockey team registered a commanding 20-1 victory over Thailand in their Pool B match, while both the men’s and women’s kabaddi teams recorded wins. In squash, Abhay Singh and Tanvi Khanna progressed in their respective singles events. India also secured places in several rowing and canoe sprint finals and semi-finals, while Indian mixed doubles pairs advanced in table tennis. In boxing, Ankush defeated Bahrain’s Hamsa Vogel in the men’s 80kg round of 32 bout.
India’s medal tally stood at 11, placing the country 12th in the standings, while China led with 75 medals at the time of writing. (ANI)