Jay Meena wins India's first-ever soft tennis medal at Asian Games

Jay Meena created history by securing India's first-ever soft tennis medal at the Asian Games, settling for bronze after losing to Japan's Takuya Kurosaka in the men's singles semifinals here on Wednesday.

Playing in his third Asian Games, the 26-year-old from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, fought back strongly after falling three games behind but could not sustain the momentum, going down 2-4 (3-5, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1, 6-4, 1-4) in the 45-minute contest.

Kurosaka established early control, winning the opening two games 5-3 and 4-1 before taking the third 4-1 to leave Meena with little room for error.

With a medal assured but a place in the final at stake, Meena mounted a spirited fightback.

He won the fourth game 4-1 and then edged a closely contested fifth 6-4 to narrow the deficit and keep alive hopes of completing a remarkable comeback.

Kurosaka regrouped in the sixth game, winning it 4-1 to seal his place in the final and leave Meena with the bronze.

Earlier in the day, Meena had reached the semifinals after overcoming the Philippines' Sherwin Nuguit 4-3 (0-4, 4-2, 2-4, 4-2, 5-3, 2-4, 7-5) in a hard-fought quarterfinal.

Meena had also competed at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games.

He had defeated Pakistan's Arain Hussain 4-0 in Group D to qualify for the quarterfinals.

A 2022 National Games gold medallist, Meena had previously won a bronze in mixed doubles at the 2024 World Soft Tennis Championship.