Danielle Souza (BRA) in action on the way to winning the SH-1 title (BWF)
SANTIAGO, Chile — Much like the rest of the Para Pan American Games Brazil proved to be the most successful team in badminton in Santiago. Brazilian players won nine gold medals in a dominant performance.
Two gold medals came from the pair of Marcelo Conceicao and Rogerio Olivera both winning their singles and doubles titles. Conceicao won the WH1 men’s singles and WH1-2 men’s doubles and Olivera won the SL4 men’s singles and SL3-SU5 mixed doubles. The WH1-2 men’s doubles was guaranteed to be a Brazilian gold as Conceicao and partner Julio Cesar Godoy defeated fellow Brazilians Edmar Francisco Barbosa and Radolfo Renato Cano.
Yuki Rodrigues was the only other male winner, claiming the men’s SU5 men’s singles. Brazil swept the WH1 singles crowns with Daniele Souza claiming the women’s, the same holding true in the SL4 with Ana Carolina Reis completing the sweep. The other gold medals came from women’s singles through Abinaecia Silva (SL3) and Mikaela Almeida (SU5).
Two non-Brazilians claimed double gold with Peru’s world champion Pilar Jauregui claiming the WH2 women’s singles and WH1-2 women’s doubles with Jaquelin Burgos Javier. The other double champion was from the USA with Miles Krajewski claiming the SH6 men’s singles and the SH6 mixed doubles with Jayci Simon.
Chile also managed one gold through Jaime Aranguiz who defeated Godoy in the WH2 men’s singles final, denying Brazil another gold medal.
While there was no automatic qualification spot on the line for winning the Para Pan American Games, there were vital “Race to Paris” rankings points that will give the winners a significant boost.
TBILISI, Georgia — The final gold medal in the World Para Powerlifting Championships was claimed by Chile after a thrilling battle in the mixed team event in Tibilisi on Monday.
With Egypt and Brazil not competing there was the sense throughout the hall that this event was there for the taking and Chile finished off the job it started in the heats. Chile came to the knockouts with the number one seed following a dominant performance in the heats saw them through to the semi-finals with a 30 point lead on the field.
France was a tough opponent for Chile and it was only the very last lift of the match that sent Chile through to the final. Juan Carlos Garrido lifted 173kg to get his side over the line by 2.4 points.
That meant that Ukraine awaited in the final after overcoming Colombia with a final lift of 220kg. The final was a more controlled affair from the Chileans, who took control from the start and claimed a win by seven points.
Colombia claimed the bronze medal after being handed a huge advantage when France failed at the first lift. That meant Colombia didn’t need to push the weights too high and just manage three clean lifts which the team did easily, putting two South American teams on the podium.
Both Iraq and Chile have hit the next stage of the development of amputee football in the country with both nations celebrating significant milestones this October.
Iraq is perhaps the most significant milestone with the creation of the Iraqi Amputee Football Federation allowing the country to apply for membership with the World Amputee Football Federation. Iraq has applied for provisional membership in the WAFF.
Being a provisional member of the WAFF means that Iraq can play in WAFF events, although not qualify for the world cup, while they’re getting their constitution ready for the requirements of WAFF.
The founder of the Iraqi federation is former Portsmouth Amputee FC player Dr. Mohammed Al-Najjar who was aided by his friend Owen Coyle Jr. (the son of the more famous Owen Coyle) who is the current England Amputee Head Coach and WAFF Treasurer.
With experience in the sport, AL-Najjar can provide the necessary expertise to get the Iraqi program off the ground. His initial plan is to establish an Iraq amputee football league and grow a national team program.
Chile’s next step will be working on earning a place in the next World Cup. After two years the team is now ready for a big challenge and it’s certainly a big ask to start with.
Chile will play a friendly against Argentina in December to begin the preparations working on taking on quality opponents and challenging on the biggest stage.
TOKYO — There were significant moments for Sri Lankan, Chilean, Indian, and Costa Rican Paralympians in athletics and shooting events as they achieved historic medals at Tokyo 2020 on Monday.
Sri Lanka achieves first Paralympic gold medal
Photo: OIS
History was made for Sri Lanka in the men’s javelin F46 as Dinesh Priyantha Herath Mudiyanselage claimed his country’s first Paralympic gold medal. He didn’t just sneak into a gold medal but he did so in convincing fashion, claiming the gold medal by smashing the World Record by almost four meters with a throw of 67.79m.
Later in the day, Francisca Mardones Sepulveda became the first Chilean woman to win a Paralympic medal. She broke her own world record with a throw of 8.33m in the women’s shot put F54.
The history continued in shooting when Indian Avani Lekara, just a teenager, stunned the field in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1. In a completely unexpected result, Lekara won gold to get India’s first Paralympic shooting medal.
Outside of gold medals, there was history for Costa Rica which picked up its first Paralympic medal of any colour. That medal came in the most hotly anticipated event of the day, the men’s 100m T64 as Sherman Guity won silver just 0.02 seconds behind the winner. That winner was German Felix Streng with both men having an anxious wait for the scoreboard to confirm the result. It was a dramatic finish with a tie for third between Johannes Floors (GER) and Jonnie Peacock (GBR).
Nigeria keeps rolling in powerlifting
Photo: Hiroki Nishioka/WPPO
On the final day of powerlifting, Nigerian lifters continued to dominate the sport with Folashade Oluwafemiayo highlighting the day. In a stunning performance in the women’s 86kg breaking the world record twice. Oluwafemiayo added 1kg in her final lift just to extend the world record further finishing with a final lift of 152kg.
It was an emotional event in the men’s +107kg category as athletes remembered the legendary Iranian lifter Rahman who passed away in 2020. Another middle eastern athlete claimed the gold to take Rahman’s mantle as Jamil Elshebli (JOR) claimed gold with 241kg.
Champions defend titles in table tennis
Photo: Paralympics Australia
Two defending champions retained their Paralympic champion throne in table tennis. Kelly van Zon (NED) defended her women’s class 7 gold medal and Abdullah Ozturk (TUR) claimed the men’s class 4.
Australia had a stunning day on the tables winning two gold medals, their first gold medals in the sport in 37 years. Yang Qian continued her stunning tournament winning the women’s class 10 in a huge shock. That came moments after Australia finally broke through as Lei Na’s long career was capped with a women’s class 10 gold.
Dramatic finishes in archery and equestrian
Photo: Alex Pantling
There were two one-point wins in the archery, the first coming in the men’s individual W1 as David Drahoninsky (CZE) defeated Nihat Turkmeoglu (TUR) in the final 142-141. A dramatic last arrow wrapped up the women’s compound gold for Phoebe Pine (GBR) needing an eight to win on the final arrow Pine managed to hit exactly that and win gold.
Roxanne Trunnell (USA) managed a world record in the equestrian grade I freestyle winning with a score of 86.927, more than two points clear. Sanne Voets (NED) won grade IV, Michele George (BEL) claimed grade V and Lee Pearson (GBR) won grade II.
Australians stun in swimming relay
Photo: Paralympics Australia
In the final swimming event of the day, the men’s 4x100m relay 34 points, there was one of the biggest shocks of the sport so far. Italy came in as favourites for the event but was off the pace as Australia swam a world record time of 3:44.31 to finish more than a second ahead of the Italians.
It’s almost an afterthought at this point but Ihar Boki (BLR) continued to be perfect, winning his sixth gold medal in the men’s 200m IM S13, although there were signs that his final event, the breaststroke may be a weakness that can be exploited. China starred in the pool winning nine gold medals, including a trifecta in the men’s 50m backstroke S5.
Champions advance in boccia
Photo: World Boccia
Five champions sealed their passage to the knockout rounds on the boccia courts with few shocks on offer. The only real struggle for a defending champion was in the BC4 when Yuk Wing Leung (HKG) fell to Eliseu Dos Santos (BRA) but it didn’t matter as he qualified for the final.
Needing a win to advance to the BC1 quarter-final David Smith (GBR) got the vital win 11-1 to seal his passage through. It will be a tougher road through the quarter-finals than Smith hoped but the passage through continues his defense.
By comparison, Watcharaphon Vongsa (THA) continued to be dominant in the BC2 claiming a 10-0 win to bring his points difference to 33-0, a worrying sign for the rest of the field. Jeong Howon (KOR) found things tougher only winning 3-1 but advanced to the BC3 quarter-finals comfortably.
South Americans control football
Photo courtesy IBSA Football
Death, taxes, and Brazil winning blind football are the only certainties in life and that last one continued on Monday in Tokyo. Boosted by a historic win against France, Japan came into its match against Brazil hopeful, and had a smart tactical setup, taking a defensive posture. But that didn’t matter, Brazil put the hosts to the sword, winning 4-0 thanks to a Ricardinho brace.
China managed its first win of the tournament getting past France 1-0 to recover from its own Brazilian loss. The goal came from an impressive free-kick set-piece which allowed Zhu Ruming to score late in the first half. That result sets up a virtual quarter-final between the two Asian sides to close out the group stage.
Argentina joined Brazil as the first teams through to the semi-finals thanks to a 2-0 win over Spain. It was a hard-fought contest with Maximiliano Espinllo continuing his good form, scoring a brace with the winner coming right at the death.
Morocco made history in its match against Thailand, getting the first Paralympics win in team history thanks to Zouhair Snisla’s brace for the 2-0 win.
Dramatic day sees European champions eliminated from goalball competition
Photo courtesy IBSA Goalball
In what was perhaps the most dramatic day in goalball history all five teams in men’s group B finished tied on two wins and two losses. When the dust settled Germany, the European champions and world silver medalists, found themselves out of the competition.
That elimination came at the hands of China, stunning the Germans with an 8-3 win with all the goals coming in a frantic second half. That will see China taking on Japan in a rematch of the 2019 Asia-Pacific final looking to avenge their own 8-3 loss.
Turkey’s match against Ukraine was a defensive effort, with both countries managing strong defense. Tuncay Karakaya scored the only goal of the match to complete a stunning comeback from Turkey to bounce back after losing its first two matches of the group stages. Despite the loss by only dropping one goal, Ukraine advanced to the quarter-final thanks to the strength of China’s win.
Needing to win to advance the defending champions Lithuania sent a strong message to the rest of the field mercy-ruling the United States 13-3. Nerjus Montvydas scored five first-half goals to lead Lithuania to the quarter-finals.
On the women’s side, Brazil set up a clash with China after winning its must-win match against Egypt by mercy ruling 11-1. That was set up by China’s 4-2 win over Canada which saw them top the group and eliminate the Canadians.
The USA came from behind to beat Turkey 4-3 thanks to Amanda Dennis’ brace getting revenge for a 2016 semi-final defeat. Despite that loss, Turkey still topped the group and will play Australia in the semi-final.
China dominated the USA to upset the defending champions and send a strong message to the rest of the women’s sitting volleyball competition. Backed by 18 attacks from Xu Yixiao China managed a straight-sets win 25-17, 25-22, 26-24.
The same was not the case for the men’s defending champions as Iran managed a straight-sets win over Brazil in something of a shock. Despite the score, it was a good start for Brazil but Iran powered past to win the match 25-19, 25-23, 25-21.
RPC managed its first win of the women’s tournament getting past the struggling Rwanda side 25-9, 25-9, 25-12. China dropped the second set but came through in four thrilling sets winning 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23.
Close games wrap up men’s wheelchair basketball group stages
The final day of play in the men’s wheelchair basketball saw some thrilling results as the quarter-final lineup was completed. Just one goal was in it between Australia and Great Britain and only one score was the difference between Germany and Iran.
Great Britain clinched the top spot in the group with a dramatic 70-69 win over Australia, both sides advancing despite the result. They will be joined by the USA which clinically defeated Algeria 86-25 and Germany which won the other close match, beating Iran 56-53.
Things in Group A weren’t as close with Canada clinching its spot in the quarter-finals with a 63-52 win over Colombia. Japan clinched second place in the group with a 67-55 win over already secured Turkey.
Gerard stunned in wheelchair tennis
Lintao Zhang
The first genuine shock in wheelchair tennis came in the men’s third round as No. 13 seed Daniel Caverzaschi (ESP) eliminated the No. 3 seed Joachim Gerard (BEL). It was a straight-sets victory for Caverzaschi to book his place in the quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
That win set up a match-up with the No. 8 seed Tom Egberink (NED) who beat Stefan Olsson (SWE) in three, coming back from a poor first set. After losing the first 1-6 he claimed the second in a tie break in four before rounding out the match 6-3.
Shingo Kunieda (JPN) continued to roll on, beating Ji Zhenxu (CHN) 6-0, 6-2. He’ll take on Stephane Houdet (FRA) who took out Martin De La Puente (ESP) winning 12 straight games in the 6-3, 6-0 win.
There was nearly a second shock this time for the No. 2 seed Alfie Hewett (GBR) who dropped the second set to Ruben Spaargaren (NED) but claimed the match 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. He will take on Nicolas Peifer (FRA) who had a much easier 6-2, 6-3 win. The other Brit in the tournament, Gordon Reid cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 win the same margin his upcoming opponent, Gustavo Fernandez (ARG) won by.
Diede De Groot (NED) cruised into the women’s singles quarter-final dropping just two games on her way through. She’ll face Momoko Ohtani (JPN) in the quarter-final who won in straight sets after a tight first, 7-5, 6-1.
Aniek van Koot (NED) trailed early but after that was never troubled in her 6-3, 6-0 win setting up a quarter-final with Wang Ziying (CHN). Ziying stunned the South African No. 6 seed Kgothatso Montjane 6-2, 6-3 to book her place in the quarter-final. The easiest work of the day came for Yui Kamiji who swept her way into the quarter-finals without dropping a game.
Dutch quad duo Niels Vink and Sam Schroder continued their stunning performances, not content with reaching the quad doubles final the pair managed shocks to advance to the quad singles semi-finals. Vink got stronger as he beat No. 3 seed Andy Lapthorne (GBR) while Schroder got past Heath Davidson (AUS) 6-2, 6-1.
Vink has a big reward for making the semi-final taking on Dylan Alcott (AUS) who cruised into the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win. There was another upset in the other quad singles semi-final as Koji Sugeno (JPN) made it so David Wagner (USA) would miss the podium for the first time in his career winning 6-4, 6-2.
TOKYO — Following yesterday’s stunning opening ceremony the Tokyo Paralympic Games got underway on Wednesday. Australia finished the day leading the way with six gold medals and 10 total medals.
Advance Australia Fair
Paige Greco celebrates her gold medal (Photo: IOC)
The first two medals of the games went to Australians at the Izu Velodrome. Paige Greco picked up the first win, breaking her own world record twice on the way to win the women’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit. That was followed up immediately by her teammate Emily Petricola who lapped her opponent, the defending champion Shawn Morelli (USA) in the women’s C4 individual pursuit.
Australia’s dominant day continued in the pool where they won one-quarter of the gold medals on offer. Again that started quickly with the Aussies winning the first medal on offer. Will Martin claimed the men’s 400m freestyle S9 before that was backed up in the women’s event by Lakeisha, bringing Australia’s total to four.
Rowan Crothers powered down the pool to claim the gold in one of the quickest events, the men’s 50m freestyle S10 before the sixth Aussie gold came from Ben Popham in the men’s 100m freestyle S8.
Chinese sabre stars
Fang Yanke celebrates winning his gold medal bout (Photo: OIC)
China finished the day second on the medal tally thanks to a sweep in the sabre events in wheelchair fencing. It was an historic night as the women’s events appeared for the first time with Bian Jiang claiming gold in category A and Tan Shumei winning category B.
Li Hao was a surprise winner in the men’s category A as he got past the defending champion Tian Jianquan (CHN) before beating Artem Manko (UKR) in the final.
“Tian is my role model, he’s very experienced, and I’ve been competing against him so many times, but I’ve never beaten him,” Li said. “I didn’t expect this result at all. I think he had a lot of pressure on him from his performances in the previous Games. I felt very relaxed, and maybe that’s why I won. But he is and always will be my role model.”
Feng Yanke completed the sweep by claiming the men’s category B.
Team sport shocks
Denmark celebrates an upset (Photo: IPC)
It wasn’t a perfect day for Australia as they were the victims of what could be the biggest shock of these Paralympic Games. In what was expected to be a comfortable opening match in the wheelchair rugby pool matches for the two-time defending champions turned into a barn burner between Australia and Denmark.
In the fourth quarter, Denmark took the lead and the Steelers could never find the turnover they needed to get the win. Some perfect clock management at the death saw debutants Denmark manage a memorable win, handing Australia its first Paralympic Games loss since 2008 54-53.
The other shock in the team sports came on the basketball court as Great Britain was well beaten by the unfancied Canadians who played a perfect game to run away with a 73-54 win.
Things were more expected in other matches with the USA beating the Wheel Blacks in the morning’s other wheelchair rugby match. On the basketball court, the Dutch beat the USA 68-58 and Japan beat Australia 73-47.
Veterans keep winning
The winners of the women’s C5 3000m individual pursuit with their medals (Photo: Thomas Lovelock/OIS)
Three athletes added to their growing medal tallies. In the pool, Ihar Boki (BLR) continued his domination of the men’s S13 classification. He won gold in the men’s 100m butterfly S13 for his 12th Paralympic medal. The most successful Paralympian in Brazil’s history, Daniel Dias won his 25th medal with bronze in the men’s 200m freestyle S5.
Back on the velodrome Sarah Story (GBR) won her 15th gold medal; winning an all British final in the women’s C5 3000m individual pursuit for the third straight time. She also broke the world record with a time of 3:27.057, continuing her run of being the most successful British Paralympian ever.
More history in the pool
Two more world records were broken in the pool by RPC athletes as Valeriia Shabalina won the women’s 100m butterfly S14 and Roman Zhdanov claimed the men’s 50m breaststroke SB3.
The men’s 100m backstroke S1 saw another historic moment as an Arab-Israeli claimed gold for the first time when Iyad Shalabi finally broke through for gold. There was another first in the men’s 100m backstroke S2 when Chilean Alberto Abarza claimed his country’s first swimming Paralympics gold medal and only the second for Chile ever.
Matias Pino in action (Photo: Thomas Lovelock/OIS-IOC)
BONN, Switzerland – Matias Pino has been stripped of his 2019 Parapan American Games medals by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) following an anti-doping rule violation, the IPC announced on Tuesday.
Para Sports 