Jay Meena’s name will now forever be etched in Indian sporting history. The 24-year-old from Madhya Pradesh secured India’s first-ever soft tennis medal at the Asian Games, claiming a bronze after losing to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka in the men’s singles semi-finals on Wednesday. Playing in his third Asian Games, Meena produced a spirited fightback after falling three games behind but could not sustain the momentum, losing 2-4 (3-5, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1, 6-4, 1-4) to Kurosaka in the 45-minute clash.
He won bronze in men’s singles and was involved in three other medal-winning campaigns in the mixed doubles, men’s team, and mixed team events. At the 2025 Asian Soft Tennis Championships, he became the first Indian to win a medal at the continental championships. He had earlier defeated Pakistan’s Arain Hussain 4-0 in Group D to qualify for the quarter-finals. Meena previously won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2024 World Soft Tennis Championships.
He struggled to find his rhythm early on as Kurosaka established an advantage, winning the first two games 5-3 and 4-1. The Japanese player then moved further ahead by taking the third game 4-1, leaving Meena with little margin for error. He responded by taking the fourth game 4-1 and followed it up by edging a closely contested fifth game 6-4 to reduce the deficit and keep his hopes of completing a remarkable comeback alive. However, Kurosaka regrouped in the sixth game and closed out the contest 4-1 to book his place in the final, while Meena had to settle for bronze.
