Who Is Jay Meena? From Cricket Bat To Soft Tennis Racket: The 26-Year-Old Creates History With Bronze Medal At Asian Games 2026

India’s Jay Meena scripted history at the Asian Games 2026 after securing the country’s first-ever medal in soft tennis. Meena won the bronze medal in the men’s singles event after losing 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka in the semifinals.

Meena’s journey to the Asian Games podium is particularly interesting because soft tennis was not his first sporting dream. Growing up in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, Meena was initially interested in cricket and aspired to become a cricketer. His introduction to soft tennis came at Pioneer Public School, where he first watched players on a soft tennis court before eventually helping as a ball boy.

What began as curiosity gradually turned into a career. Meena progressed through school, district, state and national competitions and was competing internationally in Japan by the age of 14. He went on to win the men’s singles gold at the 36th National Games in Gujarat in 2022 and became the national champion in men’s singles in 2025.

Meena had already made his mark internationally before his historic Asian Games campaign. At the 2024 World Soft Tennis Championships, he partnered Aadhya Tiwari to win India’s first-ever medal at the tournament, a bronze in mixed doubles. He also became the first Indian to win a medal at the Asian Soft Tennis Championships in 2025, claiming bronze in the men’s singles event.

The 26-year-old had previously represented India at the Jakarta 2018 and Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games. At Hangzhou, he reached the men’s singles quarterfinals and also featured in the men’s team event. His latest campaign in Aichi-Nagoya, however, saw him go one step further and secure a historic medal for India.

Meena entered the semifinals after producing a remarkable comeback against the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in the quarterfinals. Trailing at various stages, he eventually prevailed 4-3 in a dramatic contest to assure India of at least a bronze medal.

His semifinal against Japan’s Kurosaka ended in a 2-4 defeat, but Meena’s run ensured his name would go down in Indian sporting history as the country’s first Asian Games soft tennis medallist. From dreaming of playing cricket to making history with a racket, Meena’s journey has taken an unexpected but significant turn on the Asian stage.