Jay Meena had always dreamed of becoming a cricketer. But a stint as a school ball boy introduced him to soft tennis and changed the course of his life.
Growing up in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, cricket was the sport he loved most. At Pioneer Public School, however, he found himself spending time around the soft tennis court, initially watching the players before eventually picking up a racquet himself.
Jay started out as a ball boy, collecting balls and watching the players from the sidelines. What began almost by accident has now taken the 24-year-old to an Asian Games podium.
On Wednesday, Meena won bronze in the men’s singles at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, becoming the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in soft tennis. His journey took him from school-level competitions to district, state and national tournaments before he represented India internationally at the age of 14.
Invented in Japan in the late 19th century, soft tennis is similar to conventional tennis but is played with lighter, softer rubber balls. The scoring system is also different, with four points needed to win a game, while matches are generally played over seven or nine games.
Japan remains the traditional powerhouse of the sport, making Meena’s achievement on Japanese soil even more notable.
His road to the podium was far from easy.
Meena reached the semifinals after a thrilling 4-3 quarterfinal win over the Philippines’ Sherwin Nuguit. After losing the opening game 0-4, he fought his way back and held his nerve in the deciding game, winning 7-5.
The semifinal against Japan’s Takuya Kurosaka brought another fightback. Meena dropped the first three games but refused to give up, winning the next two before eventually going down 2-4.
The defeat ended his hopes of reaching the final but guaranteed him a bronze medal and a place in Indian sporting history.
The Asian Games medal adds another milestone to an increasingly decorated career.
Meena won men’s singles gold at the 2022 National Games in Gujarat and became India’s national singles champion in 2025.
He had already made history internationally in 2024 when he and Aadhya Tiwari won bronze in mixed doubles at the World Soft Tennis Championships, giving India their first medal at the event.
A year later, Meena became the first Indian to win a medal at the Asian Soft Tennis Championships, claiming singles bronze and finishing the tournament with four medals across men’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s team and mixed team events.
But his biggest achievement so far has come in Japan, where the former school ball boy has become India’s first Asian Games medallist in soft tennis