Otherwise, join us again in not that many hours at all for day 10! Enjoy the rest of your day/evening/night.
Righto, that’s us done for the day. But afore we go, the best of the coverage to send us on our way:
Wheelchair basketball: China turn their first Paralympic semi into their first final, beating USA 41-36! They meet Netherlands in the final, while USA will contest the bronze with Germany.
Wheelchair basketball: Another three for USA gives the scoreline a closer feel but this is over. China call a timeout with 3.5s to go, and the celebrations have pretty much started.
Wheelchair basketball: Have a look! China sink another free throw, and another! At 41-33 they know they’re in the final and when the pressure mounted, they absolutely embraced it.
Wheelchair basketball: China’s free-throwing has been incredible – they’ve sunk six in a row in the closing stages and two more gives them 39-33 with 26.8 left. USA huddle and give a shout of 1,2,3 USA, but without much confidence. They know it’s over, and when they miss a three with 15s left they really know.
Wheelchair basketball: Two more free throws for China and Wang sinks both! They lead 37-33 now!
Wheelchair basketball: The officials check whether it’s a three or a two – its a three – and there are 44.2s to go.
Updated
Wheelchair basketball: China sink two colossal free throws and now lead USA 35-30 with less than a minute remaining ... but USA go straight down the other end to score a three for 35-33! It’s a two-point game!
Updated
Sitting volleyball: Iran have beaten Bosnia Herzegovina 25-16 25-16 25-17. They’ll now meet the antithesis of Russia for the gold medal, while Bosnia meet Brazil for the bronze.
Wheelchair basketball: China are looking good, 33-27 ahead of USA with 2.10 of the match remaining.
Ben Watson, winner of the cycling road race, tells Channel 4 that it was hard to see what was what because of the rain. When it was down to 10 riders, he went for it, and talks about the pleasure it gave him to be part of a team – Jaco van Gass, also of GB, came sixth. He thanks his coach for helping him get his weight down and notes that he wasn’t an automatic selection for the team, but is now looking forward to “having a bit of normal life”, spending time with family and friends. He’ll still ride his bike but doesn’t think he’ll race until next year and doesn’t regret no longer being a chartered surveyor. He’s looking forward to supporting his mates who’re competing tomorrow, and finishes his interview by holding his two gold medals to the camera. Effort, old mate.
It’s been a good and busy day for Australia...
Wheelchair basketball: With 8.51 left in the fourth quarter, China lead USA 29-25 in their women’s semi and it’s getting tense.
Sitting volleyball: Iran are too good for Bosnia, taking the second set as they did the first, 25-16. It’s 2-2 in set three.
GOLD! Dan Pembroke of GB wins the F13 men's javelin with a Paralympic record of 69.52m!
He doesn’t bother taking his final throw, opting instead to celebrate, and who can blame him? Ali Pirouj of Iran takes silver and Hector Cabrera of Spain bronze.
Wheelchair basketball: In the women’s semi, China lead USA 23-19 with 5.37 of the third quarter remaining. The winners meet Netherlands for the gold.
Sitting volleyball: In the men’s semis, Iran lead Bosnia Herzegovina 1-0 16-10; the winners meet Positivelynotrussia in the final.
“More than likely an all you can eat Chinese!“
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) August 31, 2021
Team GB Paralympic Taekwondo star @amytruesdale1 reveals how she will celebrate if she wins gold out in Tokyo.
w/ @lottogoodcauses pic.twitter.com/knO69hspGX
Athletics: Asmahane Boudjadar of Algeria currently leads the women’s F33 seated shot, her puts of 7.10m – she’s managed it twice – 15cm longer than that of Zao Qian of China who sits second.
Athletics: Sophie Kamlish of GB, the Games record holder, is into round two of the T64 women’s 100m. She came third in her heat and should have plenty left for what’s to come, but Marlene van Gansewinkel of Netherlands, who took her heat, also took her record, improving it from 12.93 to 12.82.
Thanks Paul and hi again. Daniel Pembroke still leads the men’s F13 javelin with a throw of 69.52m, a Games record; Hector Cabrera Llacer of Spain, who’s in second, is a long way back with 61.13m.
Thanks for your company. I’m off and am handing back to Daniel. Enjoy the Games.
Five-a-side football: It’s a Brazil v Argentina final!
Brazil have beaten Morocco 1-0 in the semi-final to set up a final against their neighbours. I can’t help but feel sorry for Imad Berka whose own goal was the difference.
Javelin: Daniel Pembroke has the lead in the men’s F13 javelin.
His throw of 69.52 was a Paralympic record and will be hard to beat. Héctor Cabrera is currently in second with a throw of 61.13.
This could be another gold for Great Britain.
It looks as if it’s going to be a battle for Great Britain to finish second in the medal table.
China are way out in front on 77 golds, with Great Britain second on 33 and the Russian Paralympic Committee third on 32 golds. USA could also challenge; they are fourth on 27 golds above Ukraine on 20.
The method of ranking teams by their gold medals (rather than their total medals) suits Great Britain, who have won fewer medals than the Russian Paralympic Committee. And it also suits the US, who have won fewer than Ukraine.
The Olympics and Paralympics have a brilliant capacity to throw up moments of sportsmanship and humanity. Here’s Luke Henriques-Gomes with one from today:
Stuart Jones had every reason to be frustrated. After suffering a slipped chain on the final straight and missing a medal in the T1-2 time-trial, two days later the 52-year-old found himself in ninth and way off the pace in desperately wet conditions as he neared the finish line.
Jones had said on Tuesday he was “not happy”; he had not come to Tokyo to miss out on the podium. No doubt that reality was sinking in as he trudged his trike up the final hill of the T1-2 road race.
But something else appeared to dawn on him, too. Yes, Jones had come to win a medal. But there was more to the Paralympics than medals, he clearly thought.
Because as Jones came up the straight, he slowed down as he spotted another rider, South Africa’s Toni Mould. Mould, who lives with cerebral palsy, was a lap behind the rest of the field and doing it tough.
Jones turned to Mould and, according to the TV coverage, said words to the effect of, “Keep going. You’re going great guns. You have only got a lap to go.”
Indisputable is that Jones was willing Mould on with a massive smile on his face. Mould, too, who no doubt was consumed by all sorts of pain and exhaustion by that point, particularly given the horrendous conditions, also found the energy to smile.
Sitting volleyball: We’re also at the semi-final stage in the men’s sitting volleyball event.
Iran and Bosnia are currently playing for a place in the final against the Russian Paralympic Committee, who beat Brazil 3-1 in the other semi-final earlier.
Goalball: The semi-finals of the goalball events are taking place today.
In the men’s event, Brazil beat Lithuania 9-5 earlier to book a place in the final against China, who overcame USA 8-1 in the last four.
In the women’s event, Turkey saw off Japan to set up a final against USA, who have just beaten Brazil 5-4.
Men’s final: Brazil v China
Women’s final: Turkey v USA
Sarah Storey won her 17th gold medal earlier today – and she is still trying to dry out after a race that took place in diabolical conditions.
From riding round corners with my eyes closed (due to the sideways rain/hail), to not touching my brakes down that final descent, to the relief of crossing the line to win 🥇I’m still drying out I think! What a day!!
— Dame Sarah Storey (@DameSarahStorey) September 2, 2021
📸 @swpixtweets pic.twitter.com/eg1GFVSsOV
Five-a-side football: Brazil have taken the lead in their semi-final against Morocco thanks to an own goal.
They are playing for a place in the final against Argentina, who beat China 2-0 in the other semi-final.
A Brazil v Argentina final would be great – a repeat of the Copa América final earlier this year.
Men’s T54 800m: Marcel Hug has won another gold medal for Switzerland, his third of these Games. He was the favourite; he took the lead early; and he dominated the race. The Silver Bullet needs a new nickname.
Dai Yunqiang of China picked up the silver, with Saichon Konjen of Thailand winning bronze.
Discus: Dan Greaves has won a bronze in the discus today for Great Britain. I love his Twitter handle.
It’s BRONZE for @DiscusDan!🥉
— ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) September 2, 2021
He’s won a medal at SIX consecutive Paralympic Games 🤯#ImpossibleToIgnore #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/ODndYUPBsJ
We’re coming towards the end of the ninth day at the Paralympics, so what have been your highlight of the Games so far? Get in touch and let me know.
I enjoyed seeing Hossain Rasouli, one of the two athletes evacuated from Afghanistan, in action. I particularly enjoyed the way he dismissed the idea that he might compete in the 400 metres, saying: “Look, I’m a 100m sprinter, doing 400m is going to be some effort.”
Thanks Daniel and hello all. I’ll be here for the next hour, so please drop me a line to say hello.
You can email me at Paul.Campbell@theguardian.com or drop me a tweet.
Righto, I’m going to nip away for a quick break. Paul Campbell will guide you through the next little bit.
GOLD! Vanessa Low of Australia wins the women's T61 long jump with 5.28m!
Martina Caironi of Italy takes silver and Elena Kratter of Switzerland bronze.
Updated
GOLD! Pongsakorn Paeyo of Thailand wins the men's T53 800m!
Brent Lakatos of Canada takes silver and Pierre Fairbank of France bronze.
Updated
GOLD! Jeremy Campbell of USA wins the men's F64 discuss!
Ivan Katanusic of Croatia takes silver and Dan Greaves of GB bronze!
These are brilliant every day and today’s is no different.
5-a-side football: Brazil and Morocco is still 0-0, which is something of a surprise; Brazil won three out of three in the groups with an 11-0 goal difference, but Morocco are hanging in there.
Swimming: That’s the end of today’s pool activity, but we’ve still got plenty of other behaviour to enjoy.
GOLD! USA win the women's 34 point 4x100m medley!
RPC take silver and Australia bronze; GB are fourth, but a relatively distant one.
Updated
Swimming: GB are fighting back but USA now lead from RPC from Australia! This is a terrific race, the lead changing hands repeatedly!
Swimming: Now it’s Australia who lead, with Spain second and RPC third! GB are still involved too...
Swimming: Spain now lead through leg three but GB’s medal hopes are vanishing...
Swimming: It’s USA from Spain from RPC at the first change, but GB have some serious speed in the second half of the race.
Swimming: Off they go in the medley, USA leading from RPC.
Cycling: And from earlier, Sarah Storey is now GB’s greatest-ever Paralympian.
Swimming: Here’s more on the great Ellie Simmonds.
Swimming: The women’s 34-point 4x100m medley final is about to get underway; USA go in lane four, with USA, the favourites, in five and Auatralia in two.
Updated
This is lovely.
Wheelchair tennis: Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley of GB have beaten Ziying Wang and Zhenzhen Zhu of China 6-4 6-2! They now face De Groot and Van Koot of Netherlands in the gold-medal match and that’s a monumental effort from them, given Whiley lost her singles semi to De Groot earlier today.
Athletics: Sammi Kinghorn is overjoyed with her silver. “Me?!” she exclaims when recounting how it felt to look at the scoreboard and apprise herself of the situation. She misses the support in the stadium, saying her family are very close, and the person who always pushes her is her brother. She knows he loves her but he only tells her on special occasions and called her a few days ago to let her know. she’s excited to get home and celebrate; I get the overwhelming impression that she’d be a decent party guest.
Updated
Athletics: Jeremy Campbell of USA leads the men’s F64 discuss with a throw of 60.22. Greaves of GB is third with 53.56.
Wheelchair tennis: The match has finally sped up, perhaps definitively. Shuker/Whiley are serving for the match, leading Wang/Zhu 6-4 5-2.
GOLD! Manuela Schaer of Switzerland wins gold in the women's T54 400m!
She’s already the 800m champ and 1500m and and 5000m runner-up! what a Games for her! Cheri Madsen of USA takes silver and Zhaoqian Zhou of China bronze. McFadden comes fourth.
Updated
Athletics: Madsen of USA leads as the stagger unwinds but Schaer of Switzerland takes her out and looks a lock for gold!
Athletics: Zhou is powering away but McFadden is closing on her ... she’s given a lot these first 200m!
Athletics: The women’s T54 400m is about to get going, with Tatyana McFadden of USA - one of the greats already - looking for another gold. But Zhaoqian Zhou of china may well have other ideas...
GOLD! Ami Omer Dadaon of Israel wins the men's S4 50m freestyle!
Takayuki Suzki of Japan takes silver and Luigi Beggiato bronze.
Nothing to do with the Paralympics yet everything to do with the paralympics:
Félix Auger-Aliassime briefly touched on the need for the ATP to acknowledge Pride Day and the LGBTQ+ community at the end of his 2R press conference. He also shared how he'd feel about having an openly gay male player on tour.
— Chad (@CCSnaps13) September 2, 2021
🎥: US Open YouTube page pic.twitter.com/UoBYAaxCaV
5-a-side football: Brazil and Morocco are underway in the second men’s semi and it’s 0-0 after three minutes. The winners meet Argentina for the gold.
Updated
GOLD! Omara Durand Elias of Cuba wins the women's T12 100m!
Oksana Boturchuk of Ukraine takes silver and Yanfen Liang of China bronze.
GOLD! Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland wins the women's T53 400m!
Sammi Kinghorn of GB takes silver, Zhou of China the bronze.
Athletics: As the stagger unwinds it’s Debrunner in the lead and she’s going to win, but Kinghorn is in second ... can she hang on?
Updated
Athletics: After a delay they get away and Kinghorn, who looked supreme in qualifying, makes a decent start, up on Ballard outside her and set to take Dogangun too.
Athletics: The racers are ready for the T53 400m final; Kinghorn is in lane 6, and blows a kiss to the camera. Tanni Grey-Thompson reckons she’s got the highest top speed in the race; the question is how quickly she can reach it, and for how long she can sustain it.
Athletics: The T53 category is for athletes who “typically have full function of the arms but no abdominal or lower spinal muscle activity”. Kinghorn was crushed by snow and ice in 2010 and is now the fastest ever female British wheelchair racer regardless of classification over 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. Yesterday, she too bronze in the 100m.
Athletics: Of GB interest, we’ve got Sammi Kinghorn in the final of the women’s T53 400m – that’s in eight minutes – Brent Lakatos in the final of the men’s T53 800m – that’s in 40 minutes – and Marcel Hug in the final of the men’s T54 800m – that’s in 67 minutes.
Wheelchair tennis: Goodness me, Wang/Zhu and Shuker/Whiley are having at it. They’ve been going 94 minutes and the GB pair lead 6-4 1-2, on serve in set two.
GOLD! Sotirios Gkaragkanis of Greece wins the men's T11 100m!
Timothee Adolphe of France takes silver and Dongdong Di of China bronze.
GOLD! Diego Lopez Diaz of Mexico wins the men's S1 50m freestyle!
Liankang Zou of China takes silver and Denys Ostapchenko of Ukraine bronze.
Ellie Simmonds reinstated in the S4 women's 400m freestyle!
There was some kind of timing fault that made it seem as though she’d false-started, so fifth place is now hers.
Updated
Swimming: The GB team are appealing ellie Simmonds DQ. Here are fuller quotations from her moving interview:
I think that is my last competition. To go to four Paralympic games, including a home games and to come away with eight Paralympic medals and being part of that Paralympic movement as well. So I think for me, yes, this is going to be my last but I will go home and evaluate.
I think that is my last competition. To go to four Paralympic games, including a home games and to come away with eight Paralympic medals and being part of that Paralympic movement as well. So I think for me, yes, this is going to be my last but I will go home and evaluate.
There’s no words to describe it. I love the Paralympics and I love everyone on the team, it’s just been incredible but I’m looking forward to going home. Not having your family here in the crowd has been hard, for me they’re like my comfort blanket, even though I’ve been going for so many years.”
GOLD! Xiu Pin Yip of Singapore wins the women's S2 50m backstroke!
Miyuki Yamada of Japan takes silver and Yazhu Feng of China bronze.
Athletics: It’s absolutely sodden in the stadium, which will make it difficult for our competitors. I doubt we’ll see much in the way of world records, but the T63 women’s long jump and F64 men’s discus finals are away.
Updated
Athletics: The evening sesh gets underway just four minutes from now. We’ve got 11 finals, and still have five more left in the pool.
Huge game tomorrow against Japan 👊🏀🇬🇧 .
— Terry Bywater (@TerryBywater07) September 2, 2021
We need all your support guys this is going to be both emotional and physical from the first second . Let's get to this paralympic final .#Paralympics #ParalympicsGB #ImpossibleToIgnore @ParalympicsGB @Paralympics pic.twitter.com/oUEiTKj2B2
Wheelchair tennis: That set for which Shuker/Whilte were serving some 15 minutes ago? Well they’ve just taken 6-4 it after a brutal game of plentiful deuces.
GOLD! Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo of Brazil wins the men's S2 50m backstroke!
Alberto Abarza of Chile takes silver and Vladimir Danilenko of Hint of Russsia takes bronze.
GOLD! Iyad Shalabi of Israel wins the men's S1 50m backstroke!
Anton Kol of Ukraine takes silver and Francesco Bettella of Italy bronze.
Wheelchair tennis: In the women’s doubles semi, Wang/Zhu have just held to make Shuker/Whiley serve for the first set at 5-4.
Good news:
Swimming: Reece Dunn is extremely happy, and is GB’s most successful Paralympian at these Games. He couldn’t see how close it was as he was looking up at the ceiling, which he says is so high it felt “like it was going on forever”. He’s looking forward to a party when he gets home.
Swimming: Firth didn’t actually start swimming until she was 13 which is extremely unusual – swimmers are usually in the water early doors. That’s incredible really – at 25, she’s still not been swimming longer than she’s been swimming.
Swimming: Firth’s mum says she’s had a shoulder injury and a cold, but she’s such a fighter and her family are very proud of her. With six weeks to go her strokes were off, but with her faith and prayers she’s got where she wanted to go. She’s very forgetful and had to learn her strokes again, but her coach made it happen and her fiance says that she’s very determined, so once she put her mind to taking gold it was never in doubt.
Swimming: Bethany Firth says she spoke to her psychologist before and that grounded her, reminding her why she’s here. She’s sad her family aren’t there with her, but swimming is her happy place and she really wanted to win this race though over lockdown, needed her family and her church. She always says “nothing’s impossible with God” and truly believe that, certain that even if you’ve had a crap year you can make things work for you. Everyone in Tokyo is a Paralympian, she says, and it’s not really about medals but about showing up.
Updated
Also going on today:
Swimming: That’s a brilliant swim from Firth, who led from gun to touch. She wins the 100m back for the third straight games and now has five golds total, along with three silver – two from these Games.
GOLD! Bethany Firth wins her third gold in a row in the women's s14 100m backstroke!
Valeriia Shabalina of RPC takes silver and Jessica-Jane Applegate of GB takes bronze!
Updated
Swimming: Firth is storming to gold!
Swimming: Firth starts well and leads at 50m, 0.77 ahead of Shabalina.
Swimming: Next up, the final of the women’s s14 100m backstroke. Going for GB are Bethany Firth, the world record holder, and Jessica-Jane Applegate, while Ruby Storm – what a name – and Madeleine McTernan go for Australia.
Wheelchair tennis: Shuker/Wiley of GB lead Wang/Zhu of China 3-1 in their women’s doubles semi.
5-a-side football: Argentina reach the men’s final, beating China 2-0. They’ll play Brazil or Morocco for gold – that match kicks-off in an hour 15.
Swimming: Reece Dunn now has four medals at these Games, golds in the 200m free and 200m individual medley, silver in the 100m fly, and bronze in the 100m back. Effort.
GOLD! Ben Hance of Australia wins the men's S14 100m backstroke in a new Paralympic record!
Emiliantsev of Aissur takes silver and Dunn nabs bronze!
Updated
Swimming: Hance is on world-record pace and they come to the finish!
Swimming: And they’re away! Lawlor makes a good start but Hanace leads through the first 50, Dunn 0.89 behind...
Swimming: Hance of Australia is favourite, but Dunn has a chance...
Swimming: Channel 4 have Dunn’s family on split screen. They won’t do it, but I’d love to see them inset through the race.
Swimming: Here come the men for the S14 100m backstroke final...
Swimming: Dunn is one of three GB representatives in the final – Jordan Catchpole and Louis Lawlor also go.
Swimming: Reece Dunn already has two golds and a silver these Games, and in five minutes he’ll be at it again in the final of the men’s S14 100m backstroke final. On the classification, here’s the official explanation: “S14 swimmers have an intellectual impairment, which typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.”
GOLD! Bianka Pap of Hungary wins the women's S10 100m backstroke!
Aurelie Rivard of Canada takes silver and Lisa Kruger of Netherlands bronze.
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: In the semi-finals of the women’s doubles, Whiley and Shuker of GB are underway against Wang and Zhu of China; they lead 1-0 on serve.
GOLD! Maksym Krypak of Ukraine wins the S9 men's 100m backstroke in a new world record!
Krypak improves his mark, set in Rio, from 57.24 to 57.19. Not bad. Stefano Raimondi of Italy takes silver and Florent Marais of France bronze.
5-a-side football: In the first men’s semi, Argentina now lead China 2-0, and we’re into the second half.
Ellie Simmonds retires (probably)!
Swimming: Ellie Simmonds reflects on an incredible career, not just winning medals but as part of the Paralympic movement. She thinks this is it for her, and is leaving the sport when she still loves it then, overcome by emotion, thanks her coach, her parents, her sister, and everyone who’s helped get her to this point. “I love it, I love it, I love the Paralympics, I love everyone on the team,” she says, and this is strong stuff – my eyeballs are sweating. Her coach is her best friend, she says, and not having him here is tough for her, and she could be here all day thanking people.
She goes on to say how proud she is of inspiring the people who’re now inspiring the next generation, and what an absolute hero she is. Great stuff.
Updated
GOLD! Zsofia Konkoly of Hungary wins the women's S9 100m butterfly in a new Paralympic record!
Lizzie Smith of USA wins silver and Satai Gascon of Spain bronze. Shaw of GB finishes fourth. Smith smiles at the finish, which tells us she knows she could not nothing to hold off the new champ.
Swimming: Konkoly of Hungary bousts the third 50m, and she takes Pascoe! It’s going to be gold for Hungary!
Swimming: Off they go, Pascoe of NZ in the lead at the turn, with Konkoly second and Smith third...
Swimming: Now for the women’s S9 100m fly, in which Toni Shaw goes for GB...
GOLD! William Martin of Australia wins the men's S9 100m butterfly, breaking the world record he set earlier today!
Decent spot of work, the mark improved from 58.14 to 57.19. Simone Barlaam of Italy wins silver and Alexander Skaliukh of By No Means Russia bronze.
Swimming: In the studio, Alice Tai reminds us that Ellie Simmonds has inspired a generation of paralympians, including her. We’re still not sure why she was disqualified, but her career remains her career.
GOLD! Talisson Henrique Glock of Brazil wins the men's S6 400m freestyle!
Fantin of Italy takes silver and Lenskii of Definitely Not Russia nabs bronze.
Updated
GOLD! Yuyan Jiang of China wins the S6 400m freestyle, taking the world record apart!
The previous best time was 5:12.87, and Jiang finished in 5:04.57! That is astounding! Mereshko of Ukraine takes silver and Meister of Switzerland the bronze; Summers-Newton is fourth, Harvey sixth, and as I type that we learn that Simmonds has been disqualified! That’s not a great way to end, but the five Olympic golds she’s already won should soften the blow.
Swimming: Here comes Jiang, the 16-year-old absolutely taking the last hundred to the cleaners!
Swimming: Mereshko makes an absolute horlicks of a turn and Jiang powers past her; that error will likely settle the gold.
Swimming: Jiang is inside world-record pace and Mereshko, famed for her finish, takes the lead! We’re going to see a time!
Swimming: At 200m Jiang leads from Mereshko of Ukraine and Summers-Newton is in fourth; Simmonds and Harvey are trailing, but in the hunt for bronze.
Egberink of Netherlands beats Hewett of GB 6-4 7-6(5)
Hewett now meets Gordon Reid, also of GB, in the bronze-medal match! That was a terrific tussle, it really was.
Swimming: And off we go!
Wheelchair tennis: Hewett has saved three match points!
Swimming: Simmonds is out, and also going in this final are Maisie Summers-Newton and Grace Harvey, also of GB. But the one to beat is Yuyan Jiang of China...
Wheelchair tennis: Egberink now leads65-3 in the breaker, and has three match points.
Swimming: In the pool, our suite of finals will shortly be with us, and in just a few minutes we’ve got the great Ellie Simmonds going for her sixth Paralympic gold and her ninth medal overall, in the final of the S6 400m free.
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: Hewett breaks again! There’ve been just two holds in this set, and with Egberink a set up, we’ll now enjoy a tiebreak that I’d expect to be the very brutal side of brutal.
Wheelchair tennis: Egberink keeps coming, breaking Hewett again for 6-5! He’ll now serve for the match a second time...
Wheelchair tennis: Have a look! Hewett does break, and having saved two match points he’s back level at 5-5 in set two! If you’re near a telly, a computer or a phone, I strongly recommend you get this on.
5-a-side football: With just under half an hour gone in the men’s semi, it’s still China 0-0 Argentina.
Wheelchair basketball: GB finish seventh in the women’s competition, beating Spain 62-43.
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: A blazing backhand down the line saves Egberink’s first match point, then phenomenal defence from Hewett as he’s sent to hither and yon allows him to force deuce! He quickly closes, and Egberink will have to serve for it at 5-4! That is phenomenal from Hewett!
Wheelchair tennis: Egberink holds to 15! He leads 5-3 in set two, and one more break will put him in the final, sending Hewett to a bronze-medal playoff against his teammate Gordon Reid, who lost earlier.
Wheelchair tennis: Egberink breaks again and Hewett is running out of road. If Ebgberink can hold here, he’ll be a game away.
Wheelchair tennis: Man, Alfie Hewett knows how to compete, and he’s broken back again – that’s six games in a row without a hold – and it’s now 3-3 in set two, first set Egberink.
5-a-side football: The first men’s semi, between China and Argentina, is underway. It’s 0-0 with seven minutes gone.
Wheelchair tennis: Hewett gives up yet another break – perhaps his shoulder injury is hampering him – but the double fault that seals the deal will rankle. Egberink now leads 6-4 3-2.
Updated
In other tennis news, some classic Australian plain-speaking.
Wheelchair tennis: Have a look at Alfie Hewett! It’s a great match, is this, this is, is this, and Hewett has broken Egberink back again, for 2-2 in set two.
For those of you who missed Sarah Storey’s frankly obscene achievement, youse can read about it here:
Women’s wheelchair basketball: In the battle for seventh place, GB lead Spain 57-31 in the final quarter.
Wheelchair tennis: After getting broken in the first game of set two, GB’s Hewett has broken Egberink back ... but has just been broken again! Egberink now leads 6-4 2-1.
On Monday, I was lucky enough to be on the blog for this, which I’ll never tire of posting.
🗣 “This is a story of triumph, this is NOT a story of defeat!”
— C4 Paralympics (@C4Paralympics) August 30, 2021
If you watch one thing today, make sure it’s this @EllieRobinsonGB interview.#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/NDIo1f2yq3
Right! Sarah Storey, freshly-installed as GB’s greatest-ever Paralympian after winning today’s road race, is talking to Channel 4. She says the rain meant they had to tear up the plan as they’d planned for mad humidity, but she enjoys competing in rain as it’s a different dimension and demands greater technical ability. Her legs weren’t feeling as good as usual but she thinks her skill was decisive.
“What makes you so brilliant?” she’s asked, and says she had an incredible grounding at home. As a kid, she wasn’t quite good enough, so was taught to focus on improving her own PB because if you improve every time no one can say anything. She also found out that the Paralympics existed and just kept progressing.
Her kids have both been incredibly involved in her career and are also involved in their own sport, given a say in what happens. So she could go into the team bubble, her family had to lock down, but her kids put up with it.
Jo Rowsell now comes in and says as a commentator, she was nervous when a rival made a break because she didn’t have much information on the time-gaps. But Storey did and knew she could close it provided she didn’t burn too many matches, especially as she knew she wouldn’t get much help as she was the rider everyone else was watching. So she dealt with things little by little, and here we are!
She goes on to say that she couldn’t see around corners, so you had to just “close your eyes and fling the bike round”, which added a thrill. She’s not sure how she’s going to celebrate though, having been preoccupied with making sure everything fit into her bags, but she’s going to Tokyo later today and flying hame tomorrow.
Our schedule for the next bit
- 4.30pm: Football 5-a-side – one of the events at the Paralympics that only has a men’s edition reaches the semi-final stage. Teams consist of a squad of eight visually impaired players, plus two sighted goalkeepers. Brazil are the defending champions and seem unbeatable in Tokyo – they’ve scored 11 and are yet to concede a goal in their opening three matches. They face Morocco at 7.30pm. But before that, at 4.30pm, China play similarly unbeaten Argentina for the right to fight for the gold on Saturday.
- 5pm: Swimming – as usual there are heats in a morning session that starts at 9am, but the medals are all in the Tokyo evening, with another 15 finals 🥇
- 5.30pm: Archery – it is the women’s individual recurve, with the bronze medal contest at 7.06pm and the final at 7.21pm. Hazel Chaisty goes for Great Britain, Australia have Imalia Oktrininda and the US have Emma Rose Ravish in contention 🥇
- Not before 6pm: Wheelchair tennis – action at Ariake Tennis Park has been ongoing all day, but the only medals on offer are in the men’s quad singles competition, with Australia’s Dylan Alcott up against Sam Schroder of the Netherlands in the gold medal match last on centre court 🥇
- 6.30pm: Sitting volleyball – this competition has reached the men’s semi-final stage. Not Russia play Brazil first. Then it is Iran v Bosnia-Herzegovina.
- 7pm: Athletics – you’ve got the hang of this by now, the morning session has just ended with an evening session and a gazillion* medals to be won later on. [*18 finals]
Wheelchair tennis: Egberink, the number 8 seed, takes the first set against Hewett, the number 2 seed, 6-4!
Thanks Luke and hi everyone. The tennis is our principal live action activity for now, so we’ll focus on that, but there’s plenty of activity coming our way over the course of the next bit, which I’ll outline presently. But in the meantime, Egberink is serving for the first set at 5-4.
That’s all from me. I’m going to handover to Daniel Harris from here. Enjoy the rest of the action!
Goalball: At full-time it’s Turkey 8, Japan 5. Turkey are in with a shot of defending their gold medal from Rio. The hosts will battle for bronze. The Turkish team are ecstatic, jumping and screaming, arm in arm. An overjoyed Sevda Altonuluk is in tears, and so are some of the devastated Japanese players. The hosts link arms and perform a curtain call bow to the appreciative crowd. Turkey applauds them too. That was a great match.
Goalball: And that’s the game. An Altonuluk shot rolls off the back of a Japanese player and, as she stretches out an arm to push it away from the goal, it bounces off her elbow and rolls in. Turkey 8, Japan 5. That was tough to watch to be honest, terrible luck for Japan, who’ve refused to give up all game.
Goalball: A diagonal shot from Japan clips the foot of a Turkish defender and spins agonisingly wide of the goal. Back in possession, Altonuluk shoots, and she scores. Turkey leads Japan 7-5. With only two minutes left, it’s going to be tough for the hosts from here.
Goalball: This is a brilliant match. Altonuluk gives away a longball penalty (her shot did not bounce into the neutral zone). This sets up a penalty, where Turkey must defend a shot with only one player on court. Japan scores, and it’s 6-5, with four minutes to go.
Goalball: Oh, wow! Straight from the restart, Turkey hit back. And then again. And guess who? As we’ve seen so many times this tournament, it’s Sevda Altonuluk. She scores twice, turning like a discus thrower before launching the ball hard into the court with plenty of forward momentum.
Goalball: Bang! Japan draw level. It’s 4-4 with seven minutes to goal. A slick shot from Norika Hagiwara, that stays low and skids between two outstretches Turkey players.
Goalball: Let’s check back in with the women’s semi between Japan and Turkey. Both sides have been impressive up to this point, which perhaps explains the close scoreline. At 4-3 to Turkey, it’s still anyone’s game with 10 minutes to play. Turkey’s not so secret weapon, Sevda Altunoluk has all four goals. They’re the reigning gold medallists. Altunoluk has been a star throughout the tournament, generating incredible bounce and momentum on her shots.
Wheelchair basketball: Great Britain are off to a good start against Spain, leading 16-6 in the play off for seventh. About two minutes to play in the first quarter. Spain are at five fouls, but get a bit of a reprieve after GB’s Laurie Williams misses twice from the free throw line.
Updated
Goalball: All square (2-2) between Japan and Turkey in the women’s semi-final.
Wheelchair tennis: The quad singles final between Australia’s Dylan Alcott and the Netherlands Sam Schroder has been moved from tonight to Saturday, due to inclement weather and a backlog of matches on centre court.
Wheelchair tennis: Reid plays into the net and it’s game, set, match. The number 1 seed, Kunieda, is through to the final. Final score: 6-3, 6-2. Kunieda pumps his fist with delight. He’s clearly happy, but looks like a man who also knows the job is not yet done. A top effort from Reid, but Kunieda was just too good.
Wheelchair tennis: Steely stuff from Kunieda. He breaks Reid to 30, and is now one game away from securing a place in the final. The score is 5-2.
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: Hold your horses. Reid breaks back, coming to the net and punching a classy forehand volley past Kunieda. That was some lovely play from the Brit with his back to the wall. There was a beautiful, deft drop shot off the half-volley earlier in the game. He’s trying to gee up himself. It’s 4-2. Reid to serve.
Updated
Wheelchair tennis: It’s going to be tough for Gordon Reid from here. The Brit is now down a second break, trailing 4-1 against Shingo Kunieda of Japan.
I’m at the absolutely biblically wet Fuji Speedway, where I’ve been to see Sarah Storey make history (I actually missed the history, dashing under a tunnel to get to the media interview zone as Storey crossed the line, but that’s by the by).
Storey was obviously asked about her success and her future, and she made a fair observation that, at the age of 43, she’s still a ‘spring’ chicken in the Paralympic game. In her former incarnation as a Paralympic swimmer back in the noughties, Storey used to be in the same cohort as Sebastian Rodriguez of Spain.
Rodriguez, who is now 64, has competed in four different events in the S5 swimming in Tokyo. He is joined in the sexygenarian class (yes I wrote sexy) by the famous Heinz Frei. A handbike racer, he has been competing in the Paralympics since 1984 when the event wasn’t even twinned with the LA Olympics, but held in New York.
This is a nice reprieve from the shocking weather and the crashes at the Fuji speedway today.
As they both neared the finish line, Australia’s Stuart Jones was seen encouraging South Africa’s Toni Mould, who was the last finisher in the T1-2 road race.
They're from different teams and competing in different races, but there's always support and respect between our Paralympians ❤️@UCI_paracycling #ParaCycling #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/poWSq9Uv9V
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) September 2, 2021
Jones was asked about the moment post-race, saying:
Look, I wasn’t going to podium. That lady, Toni from South Africa, that is a true champion. That’s what Paralympics are about. If I could encourage her up the hill and justmake her struggle a little bit easier, hey ... that’s what [the] Paralympics [are] about.
People with impairments - the only thing stopping them is themselves. You know? It’s not a disability. It is only a disability if you allow it to stop you from doing anything you want. You know? That young lady showed the world what to do.
Jones finished ninth in his race.
Wheelchair tennis: Time for a score check in the men’s singles semi-final. Japan’s Shingo Unieda took the first set 6-3 against Great Britain’s Gordon Reid. Unieda has an early break in the second, and is serving with a 1-0 lead.
Goalball: A bit of a blow out in the end. China defeat the USA 8-1. As the scoreline suggests, China were excellent in defence, lethal in attack. Basically a comprehensive performance. A tough day for the Americans, but they’ll be back in the bronze medal match. China will play the winner of Brazil or Lithuania for gold medal glory.
Road cycling: Sad news from the Fuji speedway. That collision earlier has ended the race for Australia’s Carol Cooke. A tough break for Cooke, 60, who won gold at Rio in the same event.
Gold to China in the T1-2 road race
Road cycling: It’s all over in the men’s T1-2 road race. Gold goes to China’s Jianxin Chen, ahead of Tim Belcelen of Belgium and Juan Jose Quiroga of Colombia. USA’s Matthew Rodriguez finished fifth, while Australia’s Stuart Jones crossed the line in eighth place. A commanding performance from Chen in the wet. He finished a full minute ahead of his nearest rival, and was still full of energy as he crossed the line.
Australian Paralympians to get same cash bonus as Olympians
Australia’s Paralympians will receive the same cash bonus as their able-bodied counterparts after the federal government committed to providing financial support to Paralympics Australia.
Olympics gold medal winners in Tokyo received a $20,000 reward from the Australian Olympic Committee but there was no similar bonus scheme for Paralympians owing to a disparity in funding for the peak sports bodies.
The discrepancy had been highlighted to a wider audience during these Games after Olympic rugby sevens champion and AFLW player Chloe Dalton launched a campaign to provide parity for Paralympians.
A Go Fund Me campaign set up by Dalton to raise money to reward Paralympic medallists had raised more than $50,000 in its first three days; the fund had reached nearly $75,000 of its $100,000 target by Thursday afternoon.
Prime minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday the achievements of Australia’s Paralympians – who have won 60 medals so far, including 13 gold – were of national significance and should be recognised in the same way as the Olympians.
Dalton said: “It’s so incredible to see that people coming together to highlight issues of inequality can create meaningful change. I’m quite emotional and so happy for these amazing athletes who will now be rewarded equally.”
The move brings Australia into line with other nations, such as the USA, which rewards its gold medallists of each team with the same $52,000 bonus. Games host country Japan offers gold-winning Olympians about $63,000 and Paralympians the significantly smaller sum of $38,000.
Olly writes below the line:
Dame Sarah Storey. Wow! Incredible achievement to win so many golds over such a long duration. To remain at the top of your sport for so long is just incredible. To have achieved this over two sports in multiple disciplines within those sports is all the more impressive.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Athletics: Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo finished fourth of four in her heat, but things got better once she crossed the finish line. A lovely moment from earlier today.
💍He *the guide* put a ring on it 💍
— #ParaAthletics #Tokyo2020 (@ParaAthletics) September 2, 2021
💕Guide proposed to 🇨🇻 Cape Verde Para athlete after the 200m T11 heats.
👰🏾♀️ + 🤵🏾♂️ Keula Nidreia Pereira Semedo & Manuel Antonio Vaz de Veiga #ParaAthletics #Paralympics #Tokyo2020
pic.twitter.com/f6a7aXxXGL
Goalball: Half-time in this men’s semi-final between China and the USA. China lead 3-1. Yang Mingyuan has been the star for China, with all three goals.
Road cycling: There’s been an awful collision in the women’s T1-2 Road Race among the leaders. Conditions are incredibly slippery at the speedway track. Coming around a bend, Canada’s Shelley Gautier turned sharply and went down. Australia’s Carol Cooke, the reigning champion, was unable to avoid Gautier, and clattered into the Canadian. Jana Majunke, of Germany, also collided with Gautier but managed to stay upright. It was an ugly crash, and Gautier in particular appeared to be in quite bad shape. Cooke seemed like she was going to get back on the road. We’ll keep you posted.
For our Australian readers, it’s been another strong morning in the pool for the Green and Gold.
Will Martin broke his world record in the heats of the 100m butterfly S9, with a time 58.14 seconds. Ben Hance set a Paralympic record in the 100m backstroke S14, swimming a time of 57.75 seconds. And Col Pearce, Jasmine Greenwood, Rachael Watson are among those Australians who will also compete in tonight’s finals.
And here’s the previous day’s action in pictures.
Storey wins 17th gold medal
Let’s recap one of the big stories of the day so far.
In diabolical conditions at the Fuji speedway, Team GB cyclist Sarah Storey completed a journey she began 29 years ago as she won her 17th gold medal to become, outright, the most successful British Paralympian of all time.
My colleague in Tokyo, Paul MacInnes, has this wonderful piece on Storey’s triumph.
Updated
Preamble
Greetings, world! Welcome to our live coverage of day nine of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Here’s what we’ve got to look forward to today, courtesy of my colleague Martin Belam.
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Cardiff, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco.
- In progress: Taekwondo – Taekwondo has been part of the Olympic medal programme since the 2000 Games in Sydney, but makes its first ever appearance in the Paralympics starting on Thursday, and athletes will compete in six Kyorugi contests for athletes with upper limb impairments. There are three weight classes: -61 kg, -75kg and +75kg for men, -49kg, -58kg and +58kg for women.
- In progress: Badminton – there are group stage match-ups all day long through until 8pm.
- In progress: Table tennis – China are in all of five of today’s finals - of which two are already completed.If I was a betting man I don’t think I’d back anything other than a Chinese clean sweep 🥇
- 1:00pm: Road cycling – Two of today’s five races that start and finish at the F1 track are completed, with three still to go. At 1pm it is the turn of the T1-2 men’s and women’s races. Then there should be what promises to be a spectacular mixed H1-5 team relay at 3.30pm – it is a new event 🥇
- 1.15pm: Goalball – both the men’s and women’s competition have their semi-finals on Thursday – the order goes men’s China v US, women’s Turkey v Japan, men’s Lithuania v Brazil, women’s Brazil v US.
- 3.30pm: Shooting – after this morning’s preamble and qualifications, the medals today are in the afternoon with the mixed 25m pistol SH1 final 🥇
- 4.30pm: Football 5-a-side – one of the events at the Paralympics that only has a men’s edition reaches the semi-final stage. Teams consist of a squad of eight visually impaired players, plus two sighted goalkeepers. Brazil are the defending champions and seem unbeatable in Tokyo – they’ve scored 11 and are yet to concede a goal in their opening three matches. They face Morocco at 7.30am. But before that, at 4.30am, China play similarly unbeaten Argentina for the right to fight for the gold on Saturday.
- 5pm: Swimming – as usual there are heats in a morning session that starts at 9am, but the medals are all in the Tokyo evening, with another 15 finals 🥇
- 5.30pm: Archery – it is the women’s individual recurve, with the bronze medal contest at 7.06pm and the final at 7.21pm. Hazel Chaisty goes for Great Britain, Australia have Imalia Oktrininda and the US have Emma Rose Ravish in contention 🥇
- Not before 6pm: Wheelchair tennis – action at Ariake Tennis Park has been ongoing all day, but the only medals on offer are in the men’s quad singles competition, with Australia’s Dylan Alcott up against Sam Schroder of the Netherlands in the gold medal match last on centre court 🥇
- 6.30pm: Sitting volleyball – this competition has reached the men’s semi-final stage. Not Russia play Brazil first. Then it is Iran v Bosnia-Herzegovina.
- 7pm: Athletics – you’ve got the hang of this by now, the morning session has just ended with an evening session and a gazillion* medals to be won later on. [*18 finals] 🥇
