In Nagoya on Wednesday, after two previous Asian Games campaigns that came and went without fanfare, Jay Meena finally stepped into the spotlight and refused to leave.
The 31-year-old soft tennis player battled through a seven-game epic to reach the men’s singles semi-finals at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, guaranteeing India its first-ever medal in the sport at this stage of the continental showpiece.
It has taken three editions. It took every ounce of nerve he had.
A seven-game nerve test
Up against the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit in the quarter-finals, Meena’s path was anything but smooth. The scoreline alone tells the story of a match that swung wildly before settling on the Indian’s side: 0-4, 4-2, 2-4, 5-3, 2-4, 7-5.
He edged the contest 4-3 in games, but this was no routine victory. Meena had to dig out of difficult stretches, absorb Nuguit’s surges, and respond under pressure each time the Filipino tried to break away.
The early exchanges went against him. Nuguit struck first, and Meena had to claw his way back into rhythm, adjusting his game and tightening his margins. Once he found his range, the match turned into a tug of war — every game a mini-battle, every point a test of temperament.
The decisive push came late. With the quarter-final balanced on a knife edge, Meena held his nerve in the closing stages, closing out the seventh game 7-5 to seal a place in the last four and, with it, a guaranteed medal.
For a nation that has long watched soft tennis from the fringes of the Asian Games medal table, that final point meant a breakthrough.
Third Games, first podium
This is Meena’s third appearance at the Asian Games after competing in 2018 and 2022. Both campaigns ended without a podium finish. This time, the narrative has changed.
His run in Nagoya had already shown signs of something different. In the men’s singles Group D, Meena brushed aside Pakistan’s Arain Hussain 4-0 to storm into the quarter-finals, a result that set the tone for what followed against Nuguit.
Now he stands one match away from a shot at gold. The semi-final offers the chance not just to extend his own story, but to elevate Indian soft tennis into a new tier of recognition. Whatever happens next, the medal is assured. The colour is not.
Bronze for women’s skeet team
On a busy day for Indian sport in Nagoya, Meena’s historic feat was matched by another podium moment on the shooting range.
The women’s skeet team of Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan combined for a total of 331 to secure bronze. Raiza and Parinaaz both shot 111 out of 125, while Maheshwari added 109, their consistency keeping India firmly in medal contention through the qualification rounds.
China dominated the event with a winning total of 346 to claim gold, while Kazakhstan took silver. India, though, walked away with another shooting medal to add to its growing tally at these Games.
Manu Bhaker in the hunt
There was more encouragement for India in the shooting hall.
Two-time Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker produced a strong qualification performance to reach the women’s 10m air pistol individual final, keeping herself firmly in the medal conversation. Her progress underlined India’s continued depth in pistol shooting, even as Suruchi Inder Singh and Esha Singh fell short of the final.
So the day ended with a familiar sight — Indian shooters in the medal rounds — and a brand-new one: an Indian soft tennis player guaranteed a place on the Asian Games podium.
For Jay Meena, the semi-final now offers a simple, tantalising question: can this breakthrough moment turn into a golden one?
