Japan’s Kamiji takes Paralympic gold in wheelchair tennis singles

Japan’s Yui Kamiji clinched the gold medal in women’s wheelchair tennis singles at the Paris Paralympics on Friday, the country’s first gold in the category, after winning gold in the doubles event the previous day.

Kamiji came back to beat longtime rival Diede de Groot of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The win marked a first premier singles title for Kamiji since she won the 2020 French Open. Kamiji had played in 11 Grand Slam and Paralympic finals since that team, losing to de Groot on each occasion. De Groot was also on the losing end of Thursday’s doubles final, won by Kamiji and partner Manami Tanaka.

In men’s wheelchair tennis doubles, the Japanese pair of Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki earned silver.

In judo events for the visually impaired, Junko Hirose claimed gold in the women’s J2 57-kg division, becoming the first Japanese woman to earn a Paralympic gold medal in judo.

Yujiro Seto of Japan won gold in the men’s J2 73-kg division for visually impaired judokas. In the women’s 70-kg J2 division, Japan’s Kazusa Ogawa finished with a bronze medal.

Visually impaired Japanese swimmer Keiichi Kimura netted his second straight Paralympic gold in the S11 class of the men’s 100-meter butterfly in what was also his second gold at the Paris Games.

Uchu Tomita of Japan finished with bronze in the same competition, while Japan’s Takayuki Suzuki, who has a limb function impairment, bagged his fourth Paris medal with a silver finish in the S4-class men’s 50-meter freestyle.

In track events, Tomoki Sato of Japan placed third in the men’s 100-meter race in the wheelchair T52 class.