Paris 2024: Great Britain earn first men's wheelchair basketball semi win in 28 years

Day eight featured semifinal action across three team sports, setting up thrilling finals in wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and blind football

Great Britain wins first Paralympic men’s wheelchair basketball semifinal since 1996

Great Britain will play in the men’s wheelchair basketball final for the first time since Atlanta 1996, beating Germany 71-43 in the semifinals.

“We came here with one job,” said Gregg Warburton, who led Great Britain with 35 points.

“Silver’s not enough for us. We’re in the gold medal game, that’s what we came for. Whoever it is, whenever it is, we’re ready to go.”

It was a North American border battle in the second men’s semifinal, with defending champions USA winning 80-43 over Canada.

Brian Bell led the USA with 31 points, while Jake Williams contributed 20. The USA had a strong fourth quarter, with Canada only managing four points.

“He’s been that way all tournament,” USA coach Robert Taylor said of Bell. “It’s the first time he’s hit the 30-mark, but he had 24 the other day and 18 or 20 in the game before that. So anyone who is surprised by that performance shouldn’t be because that’s what he’s capable of.”

Great Britain will play the USA for gold, with Germany facing Canada for bronze, on 7 September. The women’s semifinals are set for 6 September, with China playing the USA and Netherlands playing Canada.

USA and China to meet in women’s sitting volleyball final for fifth consecutive time

China’s women’s sitting volleyball team beat Canada in three straight sets in the semifinals, with the USA taking a 3-1 win over Brazil, to set up yet another China versus United States Paralympic sitting volleyball final.

“We have prepared very hard for each opponent,” said China’s Tang Xuemei. “The whole team is doing our best to attack the opponent. We are trying to reach our usual level.”

This is the sixth time China has made the Paralympic women’s sitting volleyball final, and the fifth time in a row that they will play the USA for gold. The Americans won gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

“Complete resilience from every single person, staying together,” USA’s Kathryn Sue Bridge said of their success in Paris.

“It’s not just one person on this roster that’s going to do it by themselves. So much talent.”

In the men’s semifinals, Bosnia and Herzegovina looked strong in a 3-0 win over Germany.

“I think you can see all the emotions. We cannot explain it,” said Stevan Crnobrnja of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “This is thousands of hours of hard work. People around you don’t expect anything from you with a disability. But always we represent our country in the best way.”

Meanwhile, Republic of Iran’s men’s team beat Egypt 3-1 as their campaign to win a third straight Paralympic gold continues.

“This is my sixth time playing at the Paralympic Games,” said Iran’s Sadegh Bigdeli. “So I will try to help my younger teammates to remain calm, and we hope we are going to become champions in the final.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina will play Iran for men’s sitting volleyball gold, with Germany and Egypt fighting for bronze, on 6 September. The women’s finals are set for 7 September, with China and USA going for gold and Canada and Brazil vying for bronze.

Argentina upsets Brazil in blind football semifinals

It was a never-before-seen result in the blind football semifinals at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on Thursday, with Argentina beating Brazil in a penalty shootout to deny Brazil a sixth Paralympic blind football gold.

After two scoreless halves, Osvaldo Fernandez scored the winning penalty shot to give Argentina the historic victory.

“It is a dream to play against Brazil, but when I took that ball to hit the penalty, it felt like it weighed a thousand kilos,” said Fernandez.

“The tension was incredible. I hit it and I didn’t know if it went in or not. When I realised it did, I felt great relief more than anything.”

It was a dream come true as well for the home team, with France winning 1-0 over Colombia thanks to a goal from captain Frederic Villeroux to progress to their first blind football gold medal match since London 2012.

“Colombia are a great team. They are very fast and they are having a great tournament,” said Villeroux. “It was a close game, and I’m very happy it was us who won it. We set our initial goal of getting to the semifinals. Now we have surpassed that, and we want to keep going.”

The blind football finals will take place 7 September, with Argentina and France playing for gold and Brazil and Colombia playing for bronze.