Today is the penultimate day of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, and the last full day of events with no less than 47 gold medals to be awarded.
Archery
Yumenoshima Field
Having just secured her third successive gold in the Women’s Recurve, Zahran Nemati will be teaming up with Gholamreza Rahimi to try to go one better than the silver medal Iran won in Rio in the Mixed Team Recurve tournament.
Athletics
Olympic Stadium
Plenty of regional talent in the mix today, as 27 gold medals are up for grabs.
The rivalry of Mohamed Al Hammadi of the UAE and Walid Ktila of Tunisia will return for the T34 800m final.
Lebanon’s Arz Zahreddine will be racing for a place in the final of the men’s T64 200m.
Ali Al Nakhli of Saudi Arabia made it to the final of the men’s T37 200m final having run a personal best in the heats, while compatriot Hassan Dawshi aims high in the final of the men’s long jump T20 class.
Algerian Kamel Kardjena is in the final of the men’s seated shot put F33 class. If he throws at his best, he could well come away with the gold. Look out, too, for first-time Paralympian Zakariae Derhem of Morocco.
A Mena battle for gold took place in the men’s F34 shot put, one of the first finals of the day. Ahmad Hindi from Jordan holds the world record in this event and is a firm favourite for gold, however two-time gold medallist and Paralympic record holder Azeddine Nouiri from Morocco is unlikely to give up his title so easily. Rio silver medallist Abdulrahman Fiqi is also a strong contender, his personal best only 4 centimetres shorter than the Jordanian’s. Keep an eye out, too, for Siamak Saleh Farajzadeh of Iran and Israel’s Oleksandr Aliekseienko.
Three strong Tunisians have made the final of the women’s F40 shot put: 2019 World Champion Raja Jebali, 18-year-old Nourhein Belhaj Salem and Rio silver medallist Rima Abdelli, all of whom could find themselves on the podium.
Three Iraqis have made it into the final of the men’s standing javelin F41 class, including Rio 2016 gold and silver medallists Kovan Abdulraheem and Wildan Nukhailawi, and Ahmed Naas, who won silver in the F40 class. There is a good chance of an all-Iraqi podium if they can overcome some other heavy hitters in the field, such as Iran’s Sadegh Beit Sayah.
In the final of the men’s 400m T47, Morocco’s Ayoub Sadni is a firm favourite to come away with gold and his season’s best is just 0.13 off the world record.
Algeria’s Abdelkrim Krai picked up the silver medal in the world championships in 2019. He will be pushing for a podium finish in a super speedy field in the men’s 1500m T37 final.
In the final of the T63 men’s standing shot put, both Sajad Mohammadian of Iran and Faisal Sorour of Kuwait could well come away with a medal.
Canoe Sprint
Sea Forest Waterway
Iran’s Shahla Behrouzirad and Eslam Jahedi have both made it to the semi-finals of the women’s kayak single 200m - KL3, and men’s Va’a single 200m VL2, respectively. Israel’s Pascale Bercovitch is also in the semi-final of the women’s kayak single 200m - KL2 class.
Football 5-a-side
Aomi Urban Sports Park
Having narrowly lost to champions Brazil in the semi-finals, Morocco will be playing China for a shot at the bronze medal.
Shooting
Asaka Shooting Range
Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi and Samira Eram are both competing for a place in the final of the mixed 50m pistol SH1 tournament.
Sitting Volleyball
Makuhari Messe
Iran has made it to the ninth Paralympics final on the bounce, taking on the Russian Paralympic Committee as they eye their seventh gold medal.
Taekwondo
Makuhari Messe
Five Mena taekwondoin are in action today, including in the first four matches of the day.
Morocco’s Rajae Akermach opens up the women’s K44 +58kg tournament against Janine Watson of Australia.
She will be followed by Libyan Mohammed Abidair in the men’s K44 +75kg, who takes on Francisco Pedroza Luna of Mexico.
Then back in the women’s K44 +58kg will be Iran’s Rayeheh Shahab against Guljonoy Naimova of Uzbekistan.
Then, Morocco’s Rachid Ismaili Alaoui will face off against Elliott Loonstra of Aruba in the men’s +75kg.
And finally, if successful, one of the male competitors could find themselves drawn against two-time world champion Asghar Aziziaghdam of Iran in the quarter-final.
