India, Sept. 23 -- If Quimcy Dsouza had India scrambling through Google pages about teqball, another little-known sport, sparked intrigue on Wednesday, triggered by a historic medal at the ongoing Asian Games.

On Day 5 in Aichi-Nagoya, amid the disappointment of Manu Bhaker's medal miss and the frenzy around Mirabai Chanu's maiden Asiad medal haul, Jay Meena bagged India's first-ever Asian Games medal in soft tennis.

In a sport where India had never progressed to the knockouts at the Asian Games before, Meena assured himself a medal after winning his quarterfinal tie early on the fifth morning. He edged Sherwin Nuguit of the Philippines 4-3 (0-4, 4-2, 2-4, 4-2, 5-3, 2-4, 7-5) in a thrilling contest.

His run ended in the semifinals agai...