Tokyo 2020 Day 10 Preview: Canadian women set for sitting volleyball semifinals

TOKYO – With just three days left of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the sport of Para swimming is officially wrapping up competition on Friday, with Aurélie Rivard going for a sixth medal on a busy day at the pool for Canada. Team Canada’s schedule will also see the women’s sitting volleyball squad make its Paralympic semifinal debut, races continue in Para athletics and Para canoe, the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams secure their final positions, and group play finish in boccia and Para badminton. Below is the line-up for Friday September 3: 

Para Athletics 
Four athletes are set for individual events at Tokyo’s national stadium on Friday, with Canada also on the starting blocks for the 4x100m universal relay. 

Amy Watt (Victoria, BC) is up first. She is making her Paralympic debut for Canada, having competed for USA at Rio 2016. Her event is the women’s T47 long jump starting at 9:35 a.m. JST / 8:35 ET (Thursday night). 

Back on the track, Thomas Normandeau (Peace River, AB) will be making his first Paralympic appearance in the men’s T47 400m heats at 10:38 a.m. JST / 9:38 p.m. ET (Thursday night) while Austin Smeenk (Oakville, ON) is in the men’s T34 800m heats at 11:29 a.m. JST / 10:29 p.m. ET (Thursday night). He was seventh earlier in the Games in the 100m distance. Should either Normandeau or Smeenk advance, the finals would take place the same day. 

Marissa Papaconstantinou (Toronto, ON) is set for at least two races on the day. She will first line up for the 4x100m universal relay heats at 12:36 p.m. JST / 11:36 p.m. ET (Thursday night). Joining her will be teammates Austin Ingram (Petawawa, ON), Zachary Gingras (Markham, ON), and Jessica Frotten (Whitehorse, YT). Gingras won a bronze medal earlier in the Games in the men’s T38 400m, his first Paralympic medal. 

Next, Papaconstantinou will compete in the women’s T64 100m final at 7:14 p.m. JST / 6:14 a.m. ET. 

Should Canada advance to the relay final, it will also take place on Friday, at 9:17 p.m. JST / 8:17 a.m. ET. 

Para Swimming 
Friday marks the last day of swimming at the Paralympic Games, and it will be a busy one for Canada. Eight athletes are set to race, including five-time Tokyo medallist Aurélie Rivard (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC). She will line up for the women’s 200m individual medley SM10 heats at 9:14 a.m. JST / 8:14 p.m. ET (Thursday night). The 25-year-old was a silver medallist in this event at Rio 2016. The final will take place at 5:07 p.m. JST / 4:07 a.m. 

Also set for the heats in the Tokyo morning are Alec Elliot (Kitchener, ON), Shelby Newkirk (Saskatoon, SK), Danielle Dorris (Moncton, NB), Camille Bérubé (Gatineau, QC), Tammy Cunnington (Red Deer, AB), and Matthew Cabraja (Brampton, ON). 

Morgan Bird (Calgary, AB) is straight into the final of the women’s 100m butterfly S8 at 5:37 p.m. JST / 4:37 a.m. ET.  

Sitting Volleyball
Canada is making its first appearance in a Paralympic semifinal in the sport of sitting volleyball, with the women’s squad set to take on China at 8:30 p.m. JST / 7:30 a.m. ET. The Chinese, silver medallists at Rio 2016, are currently undefeated at the tournament so far with a 3-0 record through the group stage while Canada went 2-1. At the Games five years ago, the Canadians finished seventh. 

Para Canoe
On competition day two of three for Para canoe in Tokyo, Brianna Hennessy (Ottawa, ON) is the only Canadian in action. She will be in the va’a boat and is set for the women’s VL2 200m semifinal at 9:51 a.m. JST / 8:51 p.m. (Thursday night). A top three finish would qualify her for the final later in the morning.   

Para Badminton 
Para badminton player Olivia Meier (Winnipeg, MB) will conclude group play in the women’s SL4 category. Looking to finish her first Paralympic Games strong after going 0-2 on day one of play, she will face off against Aussie Caitlin Dransfield at 6:40 p.m. JST / 5:40 a.m. ET. 

Boccia 
Canada’s BC4 pairs team of Iulian Ciobanu (Montreal), Marco Dispaltro (Montreal), and Alison Levine (Montreal) is set for its final two matches in pool play. Heading into the day with a 1-1 record, the Canadians will first take on Great Britain at 11:15 a.m. JST / 10:15 p.m. ET (Thursday night) followed by Slovakia at 4:10 p.m. JST / 3:10 a.m. ET. A top two finish in their group at the end of the day would secure them a place in the semifinals. 

Wheelchair Basketball 
Both of Canada’s women’s and men’s wheelchair basketball teams will wrap up their tournament on Friday.

First up, the men will take on Germany for the chance at a seventh-place finish at 12:30 p.m. JST / 11:30 p.m. ET (Thursday night). Regardless of the result, Canada has improved upon its Rio 2016 11th-place performance. 

The Canadian women will then face Japan at 3 p.m. JST / 2 a.m. ET in the 5/6 classification game. A victory would match the team’s result from Rio 2016. In the round-robin, Canada defeated Japan by a score of 61-35. 

CLICK HERE for the complete Canadian Paralympic Team schedule on September 3. 

HOW TO WATCH
Livestream and on-demand broadcasts can be found on Paralympic.ca/Tokyo-2020/live-stream-video-demand, cbc.ca/tokyo2020 and Radio-Canada.ca/jeux-paralympiques, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, the free CBC Gem streaming service, and the Radio-Canada Sports app. 

September 3 Canadian TV Broadcasts: 
Sportsnet One (CBC Late Night Replay) – 7 a.m. ET 
CBC Daytime – 3 p.m. local
CBC Primetime – 7 p.m. local 
CBC Late Night – 12:30 a.m. local 
Radio-Canada Afternoon – 1 p.m. ET  
Radio-Canada Late Night – 11:05 p.m. ET 

Click here for the complete broadcast schedule. Check your local listings for updated schedules.