The morning session in the Yoyogi Stadium saw Daniel Bethell and Lucas Mazur claim their places in two men’s singles finals tomorrow

The tall imposing frame of Lucas Mazur caused Dhillon Tarun problems in the first game of the SL4 men’s singles semi-final. Mazur took an early lead and there was no way back for the Indian in the first game.

The Frenchman took to the opener 21-16, but Tarun rallied in the second. The Indian had the wind in his sails leading 16-10 as Mazur looked rattled, trying to find space when none was there. By the time Tarun had 6 game points, the gamesmanship from Mazur was not going to change the outcome – we were going to a decider.

The humid conditions caused a lot of breaks at the start of the third, but it was Mazur that managed to control the disjointed game better; he took an 11-6 lead. The quality of the game could not be questioned, and Mazur held the lead into the later stages, but he was starting to tire and Taurn dragged the rallies out and started to come back at the world number one.

One hour into the match in humid conditions and Mazur called for a medical time-out as Tarun was back to within one point. The World Champion using all his experience to disrupt the Indian’s momentum, a tactic which worked well as Mazur came back on to hit 3 winners in 4 rallies and took the game 21-18 for a place in the final against Suhas Yathiraj (IND) tomorrow.

Lucas is back on court today in the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles semi-final against Japan, with Faustine Noel who have a great chance of making it to the Gold medal match.

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Bethell goes for gold after dominating India

Dan Bethell was the first European today through to a Paralympic Final after a superb performance in the SL3 men’s singles semi-final against Manoj Sarkar (IND).

The Englishman was in control of the match from the start and had the perfect approach to combat the Indian’s powerful smash. Once neutralized, Bethell was too strong in every area of the court and Manoj had no answer to deal with what was in front of him.

21-8, 21-10 the score, Bethell sets up a final later today against another Indian, his arch-rival, his nemesis and world number one Pramod Bhagat. And in case anyone forgets, this one if for a Paralympi Gold medal!

After the match, Bethell had this to say

- I’m really happy with my form. I was really nervous. He is world No.3, so I knew I had to keep playing well, had to step up my level a bit. Had to keep the rallies going on. Against Pramod (in the final), we have played each other so many times in finals over the last few years. Everyone's been talking to me about it for the last year. It's going to be great fun to get out there and give the people a good show.

Helle Sagoey gave everything

The Norwegian women’s singles player had it tough today in the SL4 semi-final, up against Cheng Hefang who has never fallen short of a Para badminton final in this class. Sagoey was cruising to this point of her Paralympic campaign but the Chinese world number two was too strong. Cheng took the match 21-15, 21-10 and Sagoey now has a fight for Bronze tomorrow against Ma Hui Hui (CHN)

Coombs sets his eyes on Bronze

England’s Krysten Coombs was under pressure from the first serve today in the SH6 men’s singles semi-final against Nagar Krishna (IND). Team GB’s world number five was matched for speed and power by the world number two Nagar who won 21-10, 21-11 and goes through to the final against Hong Kong tomorrow. Coombs now faces Vitor Tavares (BRA) for the bronze medal on Sunday.

The Paralympic badminton schedule can be found here, with livestreams of one wheelchair and one standing court.

We will feature the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic badminton event here and across our usual platforms over the next two days.