Canada's Danielle Dorris claims silver in 100m backstroke
Canadian men's wheelchair basketball team clinches berth to quarter-finals
After a near miss of the podium early at the Games, Canada's Danielle Dorris swam to a silver medal finish.
Dorris, 18, put up a speedy time of one minute 21.91 seconds in the women's S7 100-metre backstroke event on Monday.
Mallory Weggemann of the United States won the gold, just surpassing Dorris toward the end of the race in 1:21.27. It's Weggemann's second gold at the Games.
American Julia Gaffney, the world record holder, finished in third.
WATCH | What you missed on Day 6 of competition in Tokyo:
"It feels very surreal," Dorris said after the race. "I feel like I'm going to wake up from a dream back home in Canada and this has never happened. But here I am with a medal."
Canada's Camille Bérubé was also competing in the event and finished fifth with a time of 1:25.04. The pair of Canadians embraced each other at the end, Bérubé absolutely beaming.
"That was amazing. I'm so proud of her," Bérubé said. "I knew she could do it. I was really thrilled to be able to swim right next to her. She had a phenomenal swim. She went out like a bullet."
WATCH | Canadian Dorris captures silver in 100m backstroke:
Dorris, from Moncton, N.B., had a fantastic start and dominated the first half of the race. She was the first to hit the 50-metre mark at 38.22 seconds in the water.
"My game plan was really just to use my strength to my advantage, which is really the dive and the underwater aspect of the race, as well as on the turn," Dorris said. "Being the only swimmer in that race with no leg impairment, I was able to use that to my advantage."
The silver medallist made her Paralympic debut at age 13 in Rio 2016. This is her second Games and first Paralympic medal.
Both Canadians competed in the women's SM7 200-metre individual medley, where Dorris was just five hundredths of a second off the bronze medal.
WATCH | Dorris is awarded her medal at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre:
Bérubé has also set a Canadian record in Tokyo while competing in the women's SB6 100-metre breaststroke.
Women's goalball team won't advance to quarters
The Canadian women's goalball team has been eliminated in a tough match against China on Sunday.
The squad was emotional at the end of the game, headed home before the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
China, undefeated at this Paralympic Games, beat Canada 4-2 at the Makuhari Messe Hall on Monday.
The Chinese held the Canadians scoreless in the first half and led by three headed into the second. That's when the Canadians started to stage a comeback, with Emma Reinke getting on the board with eight minutes to go.
Then Amy Burk found the back of the net with a rotational shot, and Team Canada roared. It seemed Reinke would also give Canada a third goal, but that was called as a long ball — a penalty for when the ball doesn't touch the neutral zone.
It forced Reinke to defend a penalty shot; but China scored, upping its score to four. Canada finished fifth in Group C.
Canada achieved a single win in Tokyo against Israel, who is moving on to the elimination rounds. Its losses came against the Russian Paralympic Committee and Australia.
Canada had hoped a victory would bump them ahead of Australia in the standings.
WATCH | Canadians defeated by China:
Men's wheelchair basketball team advances
After starting the tournament with three-straight losses, Canada's men's wheelchair basketball team is through to the quarter-finals.
Canada beat Colombia 63-52 to clinch the fourth and final spot from Group A at the Ariake Arena on Monday in Tokyo.
Head coach Matteo Feriani pointed to his team's continued improvement on defence as a reason for their turnaround.
"The defensive game always helps winning," he said. "We needed to learn how to play together, and finally, we are learning. We keep learning how to play together each game."
The Canadians beat Korea a day earlier after opening with consecutive defeats to Spain, Turkey and Japan.
Against Colombia, Canada established an early lead it would never relinquish. Patrick Anderson led the way by nearly recording his second straight triple-double, posting 22 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists. Nik Goncin added 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the victory.
Canada will play the winner of Group B to begin the knockout stage.
Canada's women's wheelchair is already through to the quarter-finals too. It will face off against the U.S. on Monday at 11:30 p.m. ET.
WATCH | Canada's men's wheelchair basketball moves into quarter-finals:
Canadian boccia players eliminated
Canada's Alison Levine won't move on in the boccia individual BC4 event.
Levine was thumped 8-2 by by Croatia's Davor Kamor, leaving the Canadian on the outside looking in after completing group play with a 1-2 record.
The top player from each of the six pools, plus the top two second-place finishers, qualify for the quarter-finals. With the loss, Levine places third in Group A.
It was over almost as quickly as it started on Monday, with Kamor bursting to a 4-0 lead after one end. After a 1-1 draw in the second end, Kamor tacked on another triple to take the commanding lead.
Levine is ranked No.1 in the world among BC4 players, and was eyeing her first Paralympic medal.
She'll have one more chance in the pairs event, which begins on Thursday.
Iulian Ciobanu of Canada also recorded his first loss in the individual BC4 event to China's Zheng Yuansen — a 2012 London silver medallist . The Canadian was ahead heading into the third end 2-1.
But Zheng succeeded in getting seven points in the last half of the match, whereas Ciobanu couldn't add to his score.
He'll also have another opportunity in the pairs event.
Meanwhile, Canada's Danik Allard had a massive 12-1 win over his opponent Diana Tsyplina of the Russian Paralympic Committee in the individual BC2 event.
With two losses, Allard won't advance to the quarter-finals — but he still managed to get his first win in Tokyo.
The Canadian started off strong with 6-0 in the first end. Though Tsyplina got a point back in the second, the 20-year-old pushed on in the third end to get four points.
Allard capped it off with two more points to finish with a victory.
WATCH | What you missed on Day 5 of competition in Tokyo:
Smeenk settles for 7th
Canadian Austin Smeenk placed seventh in the men's T34 100-metre dash.
The 24-year-old crossed the finish line in 15.92 seconds, well off his career best of 15.34. It's a step back for the Oakville, Ont., native, who placed sixth at the Rio Paralympics.
World-record holder Wang Yan of China won bronze with a time of 15.01 seconds.
The T34 category is one of four that includes wheelchair racers with cerebral palsy. Smeenk was born with a condition that leaves weakness and stiffness in his legs.
The result leaves Smeenk still searching for his first career podium at a major international meet. He'll next race in the 800m heats on Friday.
Lakatos does not advance to 1,500m final
Despite holding the world record in the event, Canada's Brent Lakatos wasn't quite fast enough on Monday to get into the finals of the men's T54 1,500-metre race.
Lakatos posted a time of three minutes 3.72 seconds on the track to place fifth in his heat. Despite emerging in the front of the pack, the 41-year-old got into trouble in the last lap and fell back.
All but three wheelchair racers heading into the final had qualifying times below the 3-minute mark.
The athlete from Dorval, Que., has already won two silvers in Tokyo in his 400-metre and 5,000-metre races. It was the first time he had contested this event at the Games.
Read more on Lakatos's lineup at the Paralympics here.
To round out the Day 6 athletics session, Jessica Frotten finished seventh in her women's T54 1,500-metre heat in a time of 3:52.23.
The result meant the Whitehorse, Y.T., native did not qualify for the event final.
Gingras into 400m finals
Meanwhile, Canada's Zachary Gingras succeeded in moving on to the finals of the men's T38 400-metre race.
The 20-year-old of Markham, Ont., had a personal best time of 51.81 seconds in his qualifying heat Monday.
The Canadian has a silver medal in the event from the 2019 Parapan American Games in Lima. He'll go for his first Paralympic medal at 6:31 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Dyan Buis, the defending gold medallist from South Africa, also qualified for the final with a season best time of 51.29 seconds. Mexico's Jose Rodolfo Chessani Garcia posted the fastest qualifying time of 50.84 seconds.
Dixon de Jesus Hooker Velasquez, the reigning world champion, managed to book the last spot in the final.
Six-time Paralympian ousted in archery
Canada's Karen Van Nest fell in her Round of 16 match in Para archery.
The North Bay, Ont., native, who now resides in Wiarton, Ont., dropped a 142-140 decision to China's Lin Yueshan.
Van Nest has competed in every Paralympics since 2000, making Tokyo her sixth appearance. She competed in Para shooting in the first four before making the switch to archery.
The Canadian has never won a Paralympic medal.
With files from Christine Rankin, Myles Dichter, Dion Caputi
