Day 12: Paralympic Games preview

The final day's programme will have 14 medal events on the menu and players hoping to add to the medals they have already won in the event. The highlight will be the marathons.

 Here's your guide to the final day's action:

ATHLETICS

Timing: 6:30 - 11:30 JST

The closing day for Para athletics at the Tokyo 2020 will have the five marathon races.

The action will all start at 6:30 (Tokyo time) with the men’s marathon T54.

Switzerland's Marcel Hug will be defending his gold medal from Rio 2016. The Swiss Silver Bullet is also a Paralympic silver from London 2012. David Weir from Great Britain will be one of Hug’s main rivals in Tokyo. Weir is the Paralympic champion from London 2012 and an eight-time London Marathon winner.

 Both Weir and Hug lost out on the last London Marathon in 2020. Canada’s Brent Lakatos triumphed in the streets of the British capital for the first time and he will make his marathon debut at the Games. The Canadian is a Paralympic multi-medallist and competed in other five events at Tokyo 2020, obtaining four silver medals.

USA’s Daniel Romanchuk is another wheelchair racer with plenty of marathon experience. He has two victories in Chicago and one in London. The 23-year-old is also the youngest Para-athlete to win both the New York and Boston Marathons, in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

The women’s marathon T54 will be the next to start with China’s Lihong Zou in the leading role. She is the defending Paralympic champion from Rio 2016. 

USA’s Tatyana McFadden will try to go one better than her Rio 2016 runner-up finish. In 2013, she became the first athlete, able-bodied or Para-athlete, to win the four major marathons in the same year. She is a multiple-time winner of the Chicago, New York, Boston, and London Marathon.

McFadden’s compatriot Amanda McGrory is another podium contender with silver from Beijing 2008 and a bronze from Rio 2016 in her CV. 

Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer is a two-time London Marathon winner, while Nikita Den Boer from the Netherlands surprisingly defeated Schaer at last year’s edition. The fastest wheelchair racer in the 42km-event this year is Japan's Wakako Tsuchida who set the season-best result in Tachikawa City in March.

Jaryd Clifford from Australia is the man to beat in the men’s marathon T12. He is the fastest Para-athlete in 2021 and the world record holder from Sydney in April. It was Clifford’s first-ever marathon race. He got silver and bronze in the men's 5000m and 1500m T13, respectively.

Morocco’s El Amin Chentouf is the defending Paralympic champion from Rio 2016 and a two-time world champion from Lyon 2013 and London 2019. Spain’s Alberto Suarez Laso is the silver medallist from Rio 2016 and Paralympic champion from London 2012. The vision-impaired runner from Asturias won the Christchurch 2011 World Championships.

The penultimate final of the day will be the men’s marathon T46 with China's Chaoyan Li defending his gold medal from Rio 2016. He is the third-fastest man this year with a result set in Xiamen in April.

Portugal’s Manuel Mendes is another medallist from Rio coming to Tokyo. He won bronze five years ago and is the fifth-fastest runner in the world with a time set in Aveiro in April.

Michael Roeger from Australia set the season-best at a competition in Sydney in April and is another one to watch. Japan’s Tsutomu Nagata is in second place in the 2021 ranking with less than seven seconds behind Roeger.

The women’s marathon T12 will bring down the curtains on Tokyo 2020 athletics programme. Home favourite Misato Michisita has enjoyed recent success taking gold at the London 2019 World Marathon Championships. She is also a silver medallist from the last Paralympics and will be keen to take gold at home this time. 

Brazil’s Edneusa de Jesus Santos Dorta should be Michisita’s biggest threat in the women’s marathon T12. She won bronze at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and silver at the London 2019 Worlds, finishing behind Michisita on both occasions.

BADMINTON

Timing: 9:00 - 14:00 JST

In all six gold medals will be decided on the final day of competitions with badminton powerhouse China figuring in three of them. India, Japan, and Indonesia have a representative in two finals each.

Watch out for Leani Ratri Oktila (INA) who will be playing the Women’s Singles SL4 final against Cheng Hefang of China and the Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 final. Crowned Badminton World Federation Female Para-Badminton Player of 2019, Leani Ratri Oktila will be the hot favourites to win the women’s singles gold. She claimed her first world women’s singles SL4 title in 2019, in a season that saw her win 12 gold, two silver, and one bronze medal. Few would bet against her adding two more medals to her impressive medal tally on Sunday.

Also, pay close attention to Lucas Mazur (FRA) in Men’s Singles SL4 final. 

WATCH OUT FOR

Kim Jung Jun (KOR): Having won the past four World Championships, Kim is the strong favourite for gold in the badminton men’s singles WH2. He will also play in the doubles final in the same category. Despite an ongoing rivalry with Hong Kong’s Chan Ho Yuen, when it has come to the biggest tournaments, Kim continues to prove clutch. He clinched his fourth consecutive singles world title over Chan in 2019 but knows the Hong Kong athlete is hoping for revenge on the biggest stage this summer.

Mazur strengthened his hold on the top spot in the men’s SL4 world ranking, after winning gold at the Basel 2019 World Championships. It was a bittersweet victory, as his Indian opponent Tarun Dhillon retired after twisting his knee. The two have been back-and-forth since a Worlds showdown in 2015 when Mazur took silver. On Saturday, they played a three-setter that went past an hour. Mazur prevailed over Dhillon this time. He runs into another Indian, Suhas Yathiraj. 

Yathiraj, a Civil Services Official who is posted as district head for Gautam Buddha Nagar, near New Delhi, has had an easy path to the final and is capable of causing an upset.

SHOOTING

Timing: 9:30 - 11:30 JST

Only one event - the R6-Mixed 50m Air Rifle Prone SH1 - is on the schedule for the final day. The qualification will be held early in the morning and the final around noon.

The event involves some shooters that have already won medals in Tokyo. Like China’s Zhang Cuiping, who won gold in Women’s 50m rifle 3 Position and silver in 10m Air Rifle SH1, won by India’s Avani Lekhara, who is also in the fray. Having bagged India’s first gold in shooting at Paralympics, Avani has also won a bronze in the Women’s Rifle 3 Position, in which Cuiping took gold, her third gold at Paralympic Games. Both will be hoping to add another medal to their tally. However, Matt Skelhon, the world record holder with a score of 251.4 set in 2019, will start the favourite and should win gold if he manages to repeat his score of 2019.

Abdulla Sultan Alaryani, the men’s 50m 3 Position winner is also in contention and will be hoping to add one more medal to the first gold he won for UAE a couple of days back.

SITTING VOLLEYBALL

Timing: 10:00 JST

Only the women’s final is on schedule with China taking on the United States. China has won the title twice after Women’s Sitting Volleyball was introduced in 2004 in Athens. Twice they beat the United States in the final -- in 2008 and 2012 -- while the Americans upstaged them in 2016 final in Rio. Can the Americans do it in the second successive Paralympics?

WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Timing: Matches at 10:00 and 12:30 JST

The men’s gold medal and bronze medal matches are on the schedule. Four-time champion the United States won the title in Rio after a gap of 28 years and will look the favourite to retain the title. The USA is World No 1 while Japan has caused a big upset by beating Great Britain in the semi-final, coming back from an early deficit to reach the final. The won 79-68 victory put the hosts in their first final and they will be looking to win a gold medal at home. 

The USA had beaten Spain in the rematch of the Rio 2016 final and capitalised on their defensive press to overcome Spain. Japan will have to be at their best to put in across the defending champions.

Spain and Great Britain will take the court first in the morning for the bronze medal match.