New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): Indian soft tennis player Jay Meena dedicated his historic Asian Games 2026 bronze medal to his countrymen, saying the achievement was the result of years of hard work by athletes, coaches, family members and everyone involved in developing the sport in India.
Jay Meena scripted history by winning the country’s first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Meena’s campaign ended in the semi-finals, where he lost 2-4 to Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka. The Indian dropped the first three sets before fighting back to win the fourth and fifth sets and reduce the deficit to 2-3. However, Kurosaka won the sixth set 4-1 to seal the contest. The final scoreline was 3-5, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1, 6-4, 1-4.
Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Jay Meena said the historic medal was the result of years of hard work by his coaches, team and family. Reflecting on his third Asian Games appearance, he said overcoming past disappointments, including his 2023 quarter-final exit, was possible because of their constant support. He added that the medal represents 25-30 years of dedication and effort.
“I would like to say that this feeling cannot be expressed in words. This was my third Asian Games, and before that, I also reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 Asian Games, and there I lost the quarterfinals. So, to overcome that and come here, that journey, that is only possible because of our team, our coaches, and the support that we get from family. Only they know how many nights of disappointment go into this effort. This is not just a medal, this is 25 to 30 years of the coaches’ hard work, and my own, our whole team’s hard work, it’s the result of that,” he said.
Jay Meena thanked the government, Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for their support. He said with continued backing, the sport can bring more medals for the country, adding that the achievement was possible through initiatives like the TAGG (Target Asian Games Group) scheme. He dedicated the historic medal to the people of India.
“This is the first medal for India in soft tennis, and I would like to request that going forward, we get more support so that soft tennis can give many more medals to India and change their colour as well. We have full faith in this,” he said.
“The government’s support has been very important, and we have received a lot of support from SAI as well. If an athlete gets the right support, they can achieve anything. The Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of India has worked very hard for soft tennis, and I would like to thank the Indian Olympic Association for supporting the sport. Soft tennis, being an underdeveloped and non-Olympic sport, often does not get as much attention. But today, through the TAGG scheme, the IOA has supported soft tennis, due to which India has won this historic medal. I would like to dedicate this medal to my countrymen. This is my country’s medal, and this is a historic medal,” he added.
Meena wished the rest of the Indian contingent in Aichi-Nagoya success in the remaining events, saying he is confident that the athletes would win many more medals and surpass India’s previous Asian Games record.
“This is just the beginning. As we move forward, the Indian contingent will continue to bring home plenty of medals. I have complete confidence that we will surpass our previous Asian Games record and win many more medals this time,” he said.
India have so far secured 17 medals at the Asian Games, including one gold, seven silver and nine bronze medals.
Jay Meena’s coach Sudesh Sangate said the historic medal was the outcome of 22 years of hard work. He thanked the Sports Ministry for providing training camps, including one in Korea and others in India and Japan, which helped the team prepare effectively for the Asian Games.
“This is the result of 22 years of hard work from our side, 22 years of hard work, and after 22 years of hard work today we have brought India its first medal. We are very happy and we also want to thank the Sports Ministry a lot, who gave us four camps for our Indian soft tennis team for the Asian Games. We prepared the kids very well during those camps. One of our camps was held in Korea, one or two camps were held in India, and the last camp, they helped us reach Japan 20 days prior, which they did very well so that we people,” he told ANI. (ANI)
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