Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena won a bronze medal in mixed team soft tennis, claiming India's first-ever title at the World Championships in Anseong, South Korea, on September 6. The pair dominated the Philippines 5-2 in the Round of 16 and China 5-3 in the quarterfinals to achieve the milestone. With this feat, Tiwari and Meena are spotlighting the triumphs and opportunities in lesser-known sports in India.
Who Is Aadhya Tiwari?
Aadhya Tiwari is an athlete from Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram. She has been honoured with the Vikram Award in 2023, the State's highest sporting award for her incredible achievements in soft tennis and historic contributions to India's sports legacy. The award also assures ₹2 lakh prize and a government job. Tiwari reportedly works with the Income Tax department in Mumbai.
Tiwari has also won the coveted Ekalavya Award. She is the youngest and only female player from Madhya Pradesh to play soft tennis in the Asian Games. She represented India at the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou, China. Tiwari won a bronze medal in the Asian Junior Soft Tennis Championship in 2018. In the 2022 National Games, she won gold and silver medals in the singles event and a gold in the mixed doubles event with Meena.
India's Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya shared their achievement at the World Championships on X.
What Is Soft Tennis?
While the scoring and gameplay of soft tennis are similar to traditional tennis, there is a key difference in the ball and racquets used. Soft tennis balls are much lighter, weighing only 30-31 grams compared to regular tennis balls, which weigh between 56 and 59.4 grams. Meanwhile, the racquet strings are but the strings are strung more loosely and with lower tension.
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