Jay Meena secured India's first ever soft tennis medal at the Asian Games, fetching a bronze after losing to Japan's Takuya Kurosaka in the men's singles semifinals here on Wednesday. Playing in his third Asian Games, the 26-year-old Jay produced a spirited fightback after falling three games behind but could not sustain the momentum, losing 2-4 (3-5, 1-4, 1-4, 4-1, 6-4, 1-4) to Kurosaka in the 45-minute clash.

"You know what? It's an Olympic medal for me," said Jay, who claimed mixed doubles bronze at the World Championship and a men's singles bronze at the 2024 Asian Championships in Mungyeong, South Korea. He was striving for an Asian Games medal for the last two editions and narrowly missed out on a bronze after losing to his opponent from hosts China in Hangzhou 2023.