Jay Meena Secures Historic Soft Tennis Medal for India at Asian Games 2026

Jay Meena's Groundbreaking Achievement

In a remarkable feat, Jay Meena has guaranteed India its first-ever medal in soft tennis at the Asian Games, advancing to the semi-finals of the men's singles event in Aichi-Nagoya 2026.

Meena triumphed over Sherwin Nuguit from the Philippines in a nail-biting quarter-final match, clinching a 4-3 victory that secured his spot in the final four.

The match unfolded with a scoreline of 0-4, 4-2, 2-4, 5-3, 2-4, 7-5, showcasing Meena's resilience against a formidable opponent.

With all semi-finalists guaranteed a medal, Meena's success marks a historic moment for Indian soft tennis.

He now aims to continue his impressive run and reach the gold medal match.

In other news, two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker has also advanced to the women's 10m air pistol individual final, contributing to India's strong performance in shooting, rowing, and canoe sprint events on Wednesday.

Bhaker's qualification came after an impressive showing in the preliminaries, while her compatriots Suruchi Inder Singh and Esha Singh fell short of reaching the medal rounds.

In rowing, Balraj Panwar secured a place in the men's single sculls final, finishing third in his heat with a time of 6:52.84 seconds, placing fourth overall across heats.

The men's double sculls team of Satnam Singh and Salman Khan also advanced, finishing second in their heat with a time of 6:15.63 seconds, ranking fourth overall.

Additionally, Harshwardhan Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam, and Arun Singh qualified for the men's kayak four 500m final after a strong performance in Heat 1, clocking in at 1:29.447.

In the women's canoe sprint, Megha Pradeep finished fifth in the heats for the women's canoe single 200m, securing a spot in the semi-finals, while Parvathy Geetha and Phairembam Soniya Devi advanced to the women's kayak double 500m event.

In table tennis, Harmeet Desai and Yashaswini Ghorpade won their mixed doubles round 2 match against Maldives' Mohamed Ismail and Fathimath Ali, while Manush Shah and Diya Chitale also progressed by defeating Sri Lanka's Chanul Kulappuwawadu and Bimandee Swarna.

In swimming, Benedicton Beniston placed fourth in his men's 100m butterfly heat, finishing 13th overall, while Sajan Prakash did not compete. Vedaant Madhavan and Aneesh Sunil await final qualification confirmation after their heats in the men's 200m freestyle.

Jaswinder Singh and Nitin Kumar finished fourth in the men's pair rowing heats and will compete in Final B, while Gurbani Kaur, Aleena Anto, Tendenthoi Haobijam, and Poonam participated in the women's four rowing heats.

As the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games progress, Indian athletes are making significant strides across various sports.