New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): Bolstered by the experience of competing in international events in the last five-six months, India’s soft tennis stars Jay Meena and Aadhya Tiwari are aiming to clinch an elusive medal at the upcoming Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya.
The dynamic duo, who have a world championship medal and multiple Asian championship medals in mixed doubles, are leading a six-member soft tennis squad in Japan.
Jay is competing in men’s singles, men’s team and mixed doubles events, while Aadhya will participate in women’s singles and mixed doubles categories. The other members of the team include Yogesh Choudhary (men’s team), Om Yadav (men’s team), Aniket Chirag Patel (men’s team) and Aryan Thakur (men’s singles and men’s team). The squad is accompanied by coach Devanshi Hareshbhai Patel and physiotherapist Utsav Kumar Dubey.
India began their Asian Games campaign in the men’s team event on a winning note entering the quarterfinals of the soft tennis competition. India defeated Laos 3-0 in the first preliminary match of Group C. The nation endured a 3-0 loss against Chinese Taipei in the second encounter before trumping Mongolia 3-0 in the third match to qualify for the quarterfinals, where they lost to Indonesia.
Hailing from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, Jay developed interest in soft tennis by chance. As a young boy, he was more interested in cricket and initially aspired to become a cricketer before his curiosity led him to watch boys play the sport at a soft tennis court adjacent to his school.
By the age of 14, he was already competing internationally. He also represented India in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games before bagging gold in men’s singles at the 36th National Games in Gujarat. He never looked back thereafter.
In 2024, partnering Aadhya, Jay created history by winning India’s first-ever medal at the World Soft Tennis Championships, securing bronze in mixed doubles. He strengthened his credentials by becoming the national champion in 2025.
He also became the first Indian to secure a medal at the continental level by clinching bronze in the men’s singles at the 2025 Asian Soft Tennis Championship. Recently he won bronze in men’s singles at the 2026 Sunchang Open.
Following his consistent performances, Jay was inducted in Target Asian Games Group (TAGG) last year by Sports Authority of India, offering him financial assistance towards international competition exposure and national coaching camps in Jammu and Ahmedabad.
Jay said that competing in international competitions gave him and his team members the edge over their rivals. “In 2018 I played my first Asian Games in Jakarta. It was a very different experience of my life. I came to know what the value of Asian Games is. This is my third Asian Games. In China too, when the Asian Games were held in Hangzhou, I reached the quarterfinals in singles and there I lost very narrowly. But this time, the Indian federation and Indian government have done a lot of hard work on the players. I want to thank the Sports Ministry and our government for their unprecedented support. We had international camps; we stayed out of the country for four-five months, playing in Korea and Japan.
“I am in TAGG scheme. I was provided equipment, which are generally imported, like racquets and balls etc. free of cost apart from shoes and playing kits and tracksuits. Playing in Korea and Japan has boosted my confidence. Both the countries organise leagues and tournaments throughout the year which helps the players keep in shape. You develop good muscle memory and then when there is a pressure situation in the match your body doesn’t feel it. We have never won a medal at the Asian Games and this is our target this time,” Jay explained.
Aadhya, who hails from a small town Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh, started playing tennis from the age of three years even though her father was a Ranji Trophy cricketer. She initially struggled as there were no coaches to teach her the nuances of tennis.
“I learned tennis by myself. Then I was playing lawn tennis and was the Asia No. 6 seed. I played lawn tennis quite well; almost until 2013. After that, I went to a tournament, and there the soft tennis secretary from Madhya Pradesh approached me, saying, ‘Why don’t you try soft tennis?’ So, I was like, ‘Okay, sir, I’ll try once.’
“In my very first tournament, I got two bronze and one silver medal, and my name came up in the Junior World Championship, and Senior World Championship. Ever since then, I have been continuing soft tennis because in lawn tennis, there were high costs involved,” Aadhya told SAI Media from Japan.
Aadhya is currently India No. 1 in soft tennis. In 2018, she was the youngest to represent India in the Asian Games at the age of 15. At 2023 Hangzhou edition, Aadhya finished fifth in women’s team event. In 2025, she won bronze medals in mixed doubles and mixed team events at the Asian Soft Tennis Championship. Inducted in TAGG scheme, Aadhya was also part of the international competition exposure and national camps organized by SAI.
“I am very thankful to the TAGG scheme because the camps we got helped our game develop and improve a lot. SAI has helped us a lot. The training we got in the camps, and all the infrastructure, equipment, and even racquets – everything was provided by SAI, and the training went very well this time.
“In Korea too, there was a full one-month camp, and in Japan, a pre-Asian Games camp was held for 20 days. Right now, I would just say that there are high chances of getting a medal,” Aadhya said.
