Tokyo Paralympics 2020: road cycling and table tennis medals, taekwondo starts, and more – live!

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.

Hewett now meets Gordon Reid, also of GB, in the bronze-medal match! That was a terrific tussle, it really was.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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] 🥇