PARIS (Kyodo) — Yui Kamiji and Manami Tanaka claimed women’s wheelchair tennis doubles gold Thursday at the Paris Paralympics with a 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 victory over defending champions Aniek van Koot and Diede de Groot of the Netherlands.
Kamiji and Tanaka received Japan’s first-ever gold medal in the event, won by Dutch players at all eight previous Paralympics in which it has featured, following a grueling three-hour battle at Roland Garros.
“We were finally able to break through that wall,” said Kamiji, a first-time gold medalist at her fourth Paralympics.
The 30-year-old Kamiji will face de Groot again for the women’s singles crown on Friday, in a rematch of the Tokyo Games final won by the Dutchwoman.
In other action from Day 9 of the Paris Paralympics, Japan’s Tokito Oda advanced to the men’s wheelchair tennis singles final with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina.
Japan secured its first gold medal in men’s goalball in a 4-3 overtime win against Ukraine at South Paris Arena.
Japanese para judoka Shizuka Hangai lost to Ukraine’s Nataliya Nikolaychyk in the women’s 48-kilogram J1 final.
Natsuki Wada won Japan’s first gold in women’s para table tennis singles WS11, for athletes with an intellectual disability, by beating neutral athlete Elena Prokofeva 3-1.
Paralympics: Japan’s Kamiji, Tanaka win wheelchair tennis doubles
