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Jay Meena scripted history by winning Indias first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis, securing bronze in the mens singles event at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 on Wednesday.
Meenas campaign ended in the semi-finals, where he went down 2-4 to Japans Takuya Kurosaka. The Indian lost the first three sets before mounting a spirited comeback 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, according to ESPN. The final scoreline was 3-5, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1, 6-4, 1-4. Meena had earlier booked 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. The bronze medal took Indias overall tally at the Games to 10, including one gold and seven medals in shooting, along with gold medals in cricket and mixed martial arts through Suchika Tariyal. India were placed eighth in the medal standings, while China led the table with 60 medals. India also secured bronze medals in both the mens and womens skeet team events on Wednesday. The womens team of Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan finished third with a combined score of 331, while the mens trio of Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmed Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill claimed bronze after defeating Kazakhstan in a shoot-off. In other results, Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the womens 10m air pistol final, while Indias womens kabaddi team defeated Iran 37-23 in their Group A match. In rowing, Balraj Panwar qualified for the mens single sculls final, while Satnam Singh and Salman Khan advanced to the mens double sculls final. Indias womens four crew also qualified for Final A. The mens kayak four 500m team reached the final, while Megha Pradeep and Parvathy Geetha-Phairembam Soniya Devi advanced to the womens canoe single 200m and kayak double 500m semi-finals, respectively. (ANI)
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