Around the Games: Awesome Alfie and brilliant Bayley on Day 5

ParalympicsGB added six more golds to a growing collection on a magic Monday.

Away from the podium, there have been plenty more athletes shining as they bid for silverware of their own…

Awesome Alfie powers through

Alfie Hewett was filled with relief after coming through a difficult opening set to take third round victory at Paris 2024.

The wheelchair tennis player overcame Daisuke Arai of Japan 7-5, 6-2 to storm into the next round despite an unexpected opening set that tested his strength.

The two have not often faced each other in recent years but Hewett was finally able to fend off the challenge in a confident second set to take the victory.

“I haven’t really played a lot against him in recent years so a little bit of a learning on the job sort of match,” he said.

“He was taking my serve really early and punishing it so it put a lot of stress on me.

“I think I can give myself a lot of credit on how I coped with that. I saved four set points in that first set and was a lot more in control in the second so happy with that.”

Reid on a roll

Elsewhere, Gordon Reid looked in total control as he beat Japan’s Takuya Miki 6-1 6-1 to set-up a wheelchair tennis singles quarter-final with fourth seed, Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez.

“It was going to be a step up from my first match and I’m just really happy with that performance,” said Reid, who didn’t drop a game in his previous encounter.

“I’m feeling really good and really comfortable, I’ve got great support from my friends and family, and they are driving me forward.”

There were a trio of defeats for ParalympicsGB’s other players. Lucy Shuker could only compliment her opponent after she lost 6-0, 6-2 in the second round of the women’s singles in Paris.

Andy Lapthorne lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Ahmet Kaplan of Turkey in the men’s quad singles, while Greg Slade lost 6-1 6-2 in the quad singles to French Open champion Guy Sasson of Israel at Roland Garros.

Wheelchair basketball ballers

GB Men and GB Women are through to the quarter finals of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games after completing their pool fixtures.

In their final pool game against hosts France, GB secured a dominant 85-50 victory against France in front of a roaring home crowd to complete an undefeated run in the pool stage.

They play Australia in their quarter-final on Tuesday (19:15 CET).

“We were clinical today, off to a great start and just hoping to build for tomorrow – we’ve got to get back, get the recovery in and go again tomorrow as it’s a very quick turnaround,” said Ben Fox.

Bayley cruising

World champion Will Bayley made the perfect start to his bid to regain the men’s class 7 singles Paralympic title he won in Rio 2016, winning his last 16 match in straight sets.

Bayley was impressive in beating former Paralympic champion Stephane Messi. He had not lost to the Frenchman since 2011, but the pair have had some tough matches and Bayley could not have made a better start, winning the first set 11-2. He took the second 11-5 and the third 11-6 to secure a 3-0 win.

“I’m unbelievably happy,” said Bayley. “I was doing the things that I find difficult really easily today like spinning down the line, my serve was good, my receive was really good.

“Sometimes I struggle with his serves, and I felt like I could do a lot of things today. I could touch the ball really well and I was varying everything. That’s when I’m playing my best and I was really enjoying it.

Elsewhere, Aaron McKibbin beat Czech Republic’s Richard Csejtey 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 13-11, 9-11, 11-8) in the MS8 men’s singles round of 16, while Billy Shilton was beaten 3-1 by Thailand’s Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri.

In men’s class 6 both Paul Karabardak and Martin Perry went out after losing to the World number one and the reigning Paralympic champion respectively.

Karabardak lost to world number one Peter Rosenmeier 3-0, while Perry lost by the same score to Paralympic champion Ian Seidenfeld.

Elsewhere, para shooter Issy Bailey finished 19th in P3 25m mixed pistol SH1 qualifying.