Jay Meena Makes History at Asian Games with Soft Tennis Medal

Jay Meena carves out history, point by point, rally by rally.

In Nagoya on Wednesday, the 33-year-old Indian soft tennis player dragged himself through a seven-game epic to reach the men’s singles semi-finals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, sealing India’s first-ever medal in the sport at this stage of the competition.

A marathon quarter-final, a landmark moment

Up against the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in the quarter-finals, Meena looked in trouble early. He stumbled out of the blocks and was forced to claw his way back in a match that swung wildly, game after game.

The scoreline tells the story of a tug-of-war: 0-4, 4-2, 2-4, 5-3, 2-4, 7-5.

Every surge met a response. Every mistake threatened to tilt the balance. But Meena, playing in his third Asian Games after appearances in 2018 and 2022, refused to let another campaign slip by without a podium finish. The 4-3 victory was not just a win; it was a breakthrough for Indian soft tennis, guaranteeing at least a bronze and finally pushing the country onto the Asian Games medal table in this discipline.

His run to the last four had already carried signs of something bigger. In the men’s singles Group D, Meena brushed aside Pakistan’s Arain Hussain 4-0, a commanding performance that propelled him into the knockouts with momentum and confidence.

Now comes the real crack at history. A semi-final, a shot at the gold medal match, and the chance to turn a first medal into something even more glittering.

Skeet shooters keep the medals coming

On a different range, with a different rhythm but the same stakes, India’s women shooters added another piece of metal to the tally.

In the women’s skeet team event, Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan combined smoothly to claim bronze with a total of 331. Raiza and Parinaaz both posted 111 out of 125, steady and composed, while Maheshwari’s 109 rounded off a solid team effort.

China were a class apart at the top with 346 points, while Kazakhstan took silver. India, though, had their podium, another shooting medal in the bag at the Aichi-Nagoya Games and another reminder of the sport’s growing depth in the country.

Manu Bhaker steps into the spotlight again

The day’s storyline did not end there for Indian shooting.

Two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker moved into yet another major final, advancing to the women’s 10m air pistol individual medal round after a strong qualification performance. She held her nerve through the early stages, shooting well enough to keep herself in contention for another big-stage medal.

Suruchi Inder Singh and Esha Singh, also in the fray for India, fell short of the final, missing out on the last cut. Bhaker, though, remains in the mix, carrying India’s hopes in one of her signature events.

Between Meena’s historic surge on the soft tennis court and the familiar crack of Indian shotguns and pistols on the ranges, the Aichi-Nagoya Games are starting to feel like more than just another campaign. For some, it’s about adding to an already rich résumé. For Jay Meena and Indian soft tennis, it’s about writing the first line.