Wheelchair basketball: The Dutch are going to win. They’re up by eight. FacebookTwitter 8m ago 04:32 Wheelchair basketball: A couple of missed threes from the USA and they keep turning the ball over to Netherlands who clear defensively. Kramer scores again for the Dutch and they’re up by six! Three minutes left, Kramer misses her subsequent free throw but clears up her own rebound. No score results, Ryan scores for USA to close it to 60-56. FacebookTwitter 11m ago 04:28 Wheelchair basketball: Netherlands up 58-54 after sinking a couple of twos. FacebookTwitter 14m ago 04:26 Wheelchair basketball: The Dutch won’t go away! 54-54 at a timeout in the fourth, six minutes left. FacebookTwitter 29m ago 04:10 Paul MacInnes on Sarah Storey: “Her tongue was hanging out on that last lap, so she was feeling it, but the pace was serious from start to finish. Looks like gold medal number one of the games for her could well be incoming...” Add it to the pile. She’s got more gold than Smaug. FacebookTwitter 31m ago 04:09 Wheelchair rugby: USA leading 29-17 over New Zealand as half time arrives. FacebookTwitter 33m ago 04:07 World record and a chance at gold for Sarah Storey! The Great Dame does the job at the age of 43. She rides 327:807, beating her own world record by more than four seconds. Huge advances on the records today, both at the drome and in the pool. She’ll ride off against Crystal Lane-Wright for gold, which means... Great Britain is guaranteed a gold medal. One way or the other. That should make some of you lot in the Isles happy. Riding for bronze will be France and New Zealand, the Rainbow Warrior match-up, with Marie Patouillet against Nicole Murray. Updated at 4.10am BST FacebookTwitter 38m ago 04:02 Table tennis: Nathan Pellissier and Aaron McKibbin are starting off, Australia v Great Britain, in what many are called the Ashes of Table Tennis. FacebookTwitter 42m ago 03:58 Cycling: Dame Sarah Story is up next at the velodrome. FacebookTwitter 44m ago 03:56 Wheelchair basketball: A close one in the women’s game, the USA leading 36-34 against Netherlands. FacebookTwitter 45m ago 03:55 Wheelchair rugby: USA leading New Zealand 16-10 in the men’s game, second period. It’s been intense. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 45m ago 03:54 Ode to a Lemon Pablo Neruda Out of lemon flowers loosed on the moonlight, love’s lashed and insatiable essences, sodden with fragrance, the lemon tree’s yellow emerges,the lemons move down from the tree’s planetarium Delicate merchandise! The harbors are big with it- bazaarsfor the light and the barbarous gold. We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation’s original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so the freshness lives on in a lemon, in the sweet-smelling house of the rind, the proportions, arcane and acerb. Cutting the lemon the knife leaves a little cathedral: alcoves unguessed by the eye that open acidulous glass to the light; topazes riding the droplets, altars,aromatic facades. So, while the hand holds the cut of the lemon, half a world on a trencher, the gold of the universe wells to your touch: a cup yellow with miracles, a breast and a nipple perfuming the earth; a flashing made fruitage, the diminutive fire of a planet. FacebookTwitter 49m ago 03:50 Cycling: I was glad to see an Australian rider named Meg Lemon on the card. She’s qualified to ride for bronze in the C4 individual pursuit against Canada’s Keely Shaw, with Petricola tackling USA’s Shawn Morelli for gold. But then the commentators kept pronouncing her as Meg Le Mon. I hope that’s just their error. Because, mate. If you want to say it like that, put a space in it. Lemons stand proud, acerbic, full of zest. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 53m ago 03:46 Paul MacInnes Paul MacInnes Paul MacInnes is the Guardian’s reporter at the velodrome. “What we are seeing is some incredible cycling here in Izu. Emily Petricola just became the fifth female rider in four classifications to set a world record today. The 41-year-old, who has multiple sclerosis, took a whole six seconds off her own record that she set just last year. Five records in a morning is not normal: I asked Paige Greco and she confirmed it. The question all us Brits are asking is: will Sarah Storey be next?” Updated at 3.47am BST FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:43 “I misread your first missive and thought it said NZ v Aus in the wheelchair rugby. Huge grudge match!” writes Joe Barnes. “What is wheelchair rugby? I bet those athletes are as hard as nails, is it a bit brutal?” It is. For endurance as well as collisions. It’s honesty more like NFL then rugby, in that players can pass forward and score in an endzone. It’s played on a basketball style court with a round ball. Players throw passes on the full or on the bounce to teammates, and can race around with the ball on their laps. Someone has to roll through the endzone or catch it in the endzone to score. Collisions are allowed, through players don’t grab each other’s bodies or chairs. FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:40 Goalball: The Russians beat Canada 5-1 in the first game of the women’s comp. FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:38 Wheelchair rugby: Look away, New Zealanders: the USA leads New Zealand 6-3. Trailing America in any form of rugby must be mortifying. FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:34 That’s all of the swimming until the finals begin at 17:00 hours Tokyo time. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 1h ago 03:33 Swimming: Ben Popham qualifies fastest for Australia in the men’s 100m S8 third heat, swimming 58.95. Only three other swimmers across the heats dip under one minute. FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:28 Wheelchair basketball: The Dutch are hanging in there with the States near the end of the first quarter, 12-14. Bo Kramer of the Netherlands in action. Bo Kramer of the Netherlands in action. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Updated at 3.34am BST FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:25 Swimming: Antoni Bertran Ponce qualifies first for Spain in the men’s 200m freestyle S5. Great Britain get a double in the women’s equivalent: Susanna Hext in one heat and Tully Kearney in the other. FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:20 Wheelchair fencing: There is no television coverage of this event, for a reason that I don’t know. Literally zero. Not on any of the streams, and it’s listed on the Games site as being untelevised. Which means that I can’t tell you much, as there are a million bouts being held today. They’re all part of a pool round, where each fencer fights a range of opponents, so if you’re following someone in particular check here. FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:16 Another world record at the drome Cycling: Another one down! Emily Petricola in the women’s C4 individual pursuit burns around in 3:38:061, breaking her own record by over six seconds. The Australian women are having a good time on the track. The Izu Velodrome on day one of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Japan. The Izu Velodrome on day one of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Japan. Photograph: Tim Goode/PA Updated at 3.35am BST FacebookTwitter 1h ago 03:14 Wheelchair basketball: Algeria got towelled up by China in the opening women’s match, going down 25 to 74. Ouch. Netherlands USA up next. Updated at 3.14am BST FacebookTwitter Advertisement 1h ago 03:10 Cycling: So in the women’s C1-C3 individual pursuit, Paige Greco and Wang Xiaomei will race for gold later in the day. At 13:52 Tokyo time to be precise. Germany and the USA will race for bronze, via Denise Schindler and Clara Brown. FacebookTwitter 2h ago 03:07 Swimming: For Australia, Ahmed Kelly sneaks into the final for the men’s 50m SB3. Rowan Crowthers qualifies first for the men’s 50m S10, with Thomas Gallagher also through. Keira Stephens misses out in the women’s equivalent, as does Kirralee Hayes in the women’s 100m butterfly S13. Elizabeth Marks of the USA qualifies fastest in the women’s 50m S6. Ihar Boki of Belarus leads the men’s 100m butterly S13. Ahmed Kelly of Team Australia. Ahmed Kelly of Team Australia. Photograph: Alex Davidson/Getty Images for International Paralympic Committee Updated at 3.37am BST FacebookTwitter 2h ago 02:57 Paige Greco takes her world record back Cycling: As anticipated! She carves it down to 3:52:283 around the velodrome. Between she and Wang, they’ve taken nearly eight seconds off the previous world record today. FacebookTwitter 2h ago 02:53 Speaking of records... Men’s 100m butterfly S14: And speaking of them changing hands quickly - Australia’s Liam Schluter sets a new Paralymic record in the first heat, swimming 58.38 in the fly. He then watches three swimmers beat it in the very next heat. Then five more swimmers go past it in the third! Jesus, are they swimming in water or rocket fuel? The sixth swimmer in the third heat ties Schluter’s time (I’m not sure who’s ahead if we go deep into the decimals.) So poor old Liam breaks the record in heat one, then doesn’t make the final. Reece Dunn of Great Britain now holds the new, many-times-changed Paralympic record of 55.99. He already has the world record mark of 54.56, so he probably has more in the tank for the final. Australia gets Ricky Betar and Benjamin Hance into that final too. Liam Schluter of Team Australia competes in his Men’s 100m Butterfly - S14 heat. Liam Schluter of Team Australia competes in his Men’s 100m Butterfly - S14 heat. Photograph: Adam Pretty/Getty Images Updated at 2.56am BST FacebookTwitter 2h ago 02:43 Table tennis: Rebecca Julian has just completed her first match, representing Australia. One for cricket lovers: her cousin is Australia’s most entertaining player with the bat, Glenn Maxwell. Her first match is a clinical loss to Ukraine’s Maryna Lytovchenko, but she’ll be back. No one gets mad if you play a switch hit in table tennis. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 2h ago 02:41 World record in the individual pursuit Cycling: We saw a lot of world records fall at the velodrome during the Olympics, often just a few minutes apart. The women’s C1-C3 individual pursuit (held over 3000 metres has a new mark: Wang Xiaomei of China has become the first woman get get below four minutes, and has smashed past it with 3:55:781. On her qualifying lap. The twist: she takes the record from Australia’s Paige Greco, who set it in 2019, and is due to race shortly. FacebookTwitter 2h ago 02:35 Table tennis: Koyo wins! Gets enough space to really lay into his forehand on a couple of occasions, which Facey Thompson can’t handle, and that gets Koyo another match point. This time he takes it. But these are group matches, there is no elimination as yet. FacebookTwitter 2h ago 02:34 Table tennis: Koyo gets out to a 10-7 lead, but Facey Thompson saves three match point and gets back to 10-all! Koyo Iwabuchi of Team Japan. Koyo Iwabuchi of Team Japan. Photograph: Naomi Baker/Getty Images Updated at 2.48am BST FacebookTwitter 2h ago 02:30 Table tennis: Ashley Facey Thompson playing out a cracker with Iwabuchi Koyo. They’re 5-4 in the fifth set. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 2h ago 02:16 Women’s 100m butterfly S14: Valeriia Shabalina, the Russian world record holder, wins her heat. No surprise, but Australia’s Paige Leonhardt got the best start off the blocks and led Shabalina past the turn. Just that Shabalina’s burst of closing speed was unstoppable. They both qualify faster than Chan Yui Lam of China in heat one. GBR’s Jessica-Jane Applegate qualifies second in that heat, along with her compatriot Louise Fiddes and Australia’s Ruby Storm as the third-placed swimmers in each. Moemi Kinoshita (Japan) and Cheung Ho Ying (China) round out the eight. FacebookTwitter 3h ago 02:10 Table tennis: Australia’s Ma Lin, the four-time winner of gold, has breezed past Great Britain’s Joshua Stacey in straight sets. Ashley Facey Thompson has levelled his match 1-1. FacebookTwitter 3h ago 02:03 Goalball: Brazil win the opening men’s match 11-2, against a strong Lithuanian side. Emerson Da Silva and Romario Marques of Brazil. Emerson Da Silva and Romario Marques of Brazil. Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters Updated at 2.28am BST FacebookTwitter 3h ago 02:02 Women’s 100m backstroke S2: Only nine competitors across the two heats in this event, and the top eight qualify. Katarina Draganov-Cordas of Serbia is the swimmer to drop out. Miyuki Yamada of Team Japan prepares to race in her Women’s 100m Backstroke - S2 heat. Miyuki Yamada of Team Japan prepares to race in her Women’s 100m Backstroke - S2 heat. Photograph: Naomi Baker/Getty Images Updated at 2.43am BST FacebookTwitter 3h ago 02:00 Men’s 100m backstroke S2: Vladimir Danilenko qualifies fastest for Russia, a split second faster than the other heat led by Chile’s Alberto Abarza. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 3h ago 01:56 Table tennis: Australia’s Lina Lei has won her opening match against Brazil’s Jennyfer Marques Parinos in straight sets. Great Britain’s Ashley Facey Thompson is trailing Japan’s Iwabuchi Koyo and has just lost the first set. FacebookTwitter 3h ago 01:41 Goalball: Brazil are bossing this opening men’s match, leading 7-1 at a timeout in the second period. FacebookTwitter 3h ago 01:40 Women’s 400m freestyle S9: Fastest qualifier here is the Hungarian swimmer Zsofia Konkoly, with Toni Shaw of Great Britain not far behind. The other heat goes slower, with an Australian one-two of Ellie Cole and Lakeisha Patterson. Cole goes out hard in the first two laps and holds a lead, with Patterson happy to hang behind. The eight fastest swimmers will go through. Swimming superstar Ellie Cole on diversity, accessibility and bringing people joy Read more Updated at 2.28am BST FacebookTwitter 3h ago 01:37 Men’s 400m freestyle S9: Australia’s Alexander Tuckfield qualifies fastest for the final, with compatriots William Martin and world-record holder, Brenden Hall qualifying from the other heat. Simone Barlaam of Italy wins that second heat, about three seconds slower than the first. Jesse Reynolds of Team New Zealand swims during his Men’s 400m Freestyle - S9. Jesse Reynolds of Team New Zealand swims during his Men’s 400m Freestyle - S9. Photograph: Adam Pretty/Getty Images Updated at 2.41am BST FacebookTwitter 3h ago 01:21 What is on today? Plenty. Times are as per Tokyo, which is GMT+9. Add one more hour for Australia, minus 8 hours for the UK, scan from there for your timezone of choice. 9am - Swimming. Heats for freestyle ranging from 50m to 400m, the 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke. The medals start from 5pm. 9am - Goalball. Brazil and Lithuania in the men’s comp start the first of seven games today. 9am - Wheelchair fencing. Preliminary bouts have just begun and run through straight into the quarterfinals. The semis and finals start from 15:30. 9am - Table tennis. A whole stack of singles matches happening through the next six hours. 10am - Wheelchair basketball. Algeria play China in the women’s group B match. Netherlands USA at 11:15. Great Britain and Canada at 14:25. Australia and Japan at 17:00. The men’s match between Spain and Korea is at 20:30. 10am - Track cycling. Qualifying for the individual pursuit categories starts here. The medal races start from 13:45. 11:30 - Wheelchair rugby. USA and New Zealand first up in the mixed preliminaries. Australia Denmark at 14:00, Great Britain Canada at 17:30, Japan France at 20:00. FacebookTwitter Advertisement 4h ago 01:00 Preamble Geoff Lemon Geoff Lemon Good indistinct time greeting to you all. We are, as Whoopi Goldberg may once have said, back in the habit.* * The line does not appear in the film Sister Act II: Back in the Habit, but is solely a wordplay-based tagline to add to the film’s title. The habit of liveblogging many sports at once, that is. The Olympics have settled into the recent past, a euphoric afterglow, but now we can have a euphoric present-glow of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, to be held in 2021 by numerical agreement. What is on today? Plenty. Track cycling, swimming, basketball, fencing, table tennis, goalball, rugby... details on the way.