# Jay Meena wins India’s first Asian Games soft tennis bronze

2026-09-23T20:28:09+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 3 independent outlets

Jay Meena won India's first ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis on Wednesday, taking bronze in the men's singles after losing his semifinal 2-4 to Japan's Takuya Kurosaka in Nagoya. The 26-year-old from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, had earlier beaten the Philippines' Sherwin Nuguit in a tense quarterfinal, coming from 3-5 down in the deciding game to win 4-3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Meena on X, calling it a historic achievement for Indian soft tennis. Meena, a 2022 National Games gold medallist and 2025 national champion, said the medal felt like an Olympic medal to him. He had previously secured India's first world championships medal in the sport in 2024. Meena is making his third Asian Games appearance, having also competed in 2018 and 2022.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

All three sources report the same facts from the PTI wire copy, making the coverage uniform straight reporting. What differs is the entry point: timesnownews.com leads with PM Modi's congratulatory tweet, foregrounding the official celebration, while theprint.in and assamtribune.com lead with the match result and the athlete's own emotional reaction. The dominant framing is neutral-report across outlets. Jay Meena's bronze marks a breakthrough for a fringe sport in India, and his own trajectory from ball boy to national champion suggests the ecosystem for non-mainstream disciplines is producing results. The next milestone is the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where Meena will aim to change the colour of his medal.

## Coverage

- timesnownews.com (pro government) <https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/pm-modi-congratulates-jay-meena-on-historic-soft-tennis-bronze-article-156209577>
  Leads with PM Modi's X post before any match detail
- theprint.in (neutral report) <https://theprint.in/sport/jay-meena-wins-indias-first-ever-soft-tennis-bronze-medal-at-asian-games/3051190/>
  Wire copy style, leads with match action and athlete quote
- assamtribune.com (neutral report) <https://assamtribune.com/sports/jay-meena-wins-historic-asian-games-bronze-in-mens-soft-tennis-1618255>
  Wire copy style, leads with match result and athlete background

Tags: Asian Games, Jay Meena, Nagoya, Narendra Modi, Soft Tennis
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