Argentina ends Brazil's dominance in blind football and advances to Paralympic final against France

PARIS -- The streak is over for the Brazilian men’s blind football team.

The Brazilians had never lost in 20 years of Paralympic competition — until rival Argentina beat them 4-3 in a penalty shootout Thursday night to reach the final.

After a goalless draw, Argentina led the shootout 4-3 before Brazil striker Ricardinho’s penalty hit the post, sealing Argentina’s semifinal victory at the Paris Paralympics.

Brazil had dominated the sport, winning five consecutive gold medals since blind football was introduced to the Paralympics program in 2004.

Argentina’s players, led by striker Maximiliano Espinillo, who scored the opening penalty, celebrated on the pitch with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.

“Today my little ones, as I call my teammates, made me really happy," Argentina defender Froilan Padilla said. “They left everything on the pitch.”

Argentina, which won the world championship last year, will face France on Saturday for the gold medal.

Brian Bell continued his tear through the Paralympic wheelchair basketball tournament with a 31-point, double-double performance, helping the United States defeat Canada 80-43 and setting up a gold-medal game against Britain on Saturday.

Bell went 14-for-18 from the field and collected 10 rebounds.

Britain was a 71-43 winner over Germany and is the only other unbeaten team in the tournament.

American wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden seemed en route to her second medal of the Paralympics, a bronze, but was later disqualified in the official results for the T54 400-meter final for wheeling out of her lane.

Lea Bayekula, who beat McFadden for gold in Wednesday’s 100-meter final, also took home the gold in a time of 53.05 seconds.

The T54 category is for competitors with spinal cord injuries who use wheelchairs to race and have no leg function along with normal hand and arm function.

French swimming star Ugo Didier took silver in the 200-meter individual medley SM9 final, his third medal of the Paris Paralympics, thrilling his countrymen in the stands.

As he exited the tunnel, Didier was greeted by a frenzy of French flags, along with a burst of cheers and fans chanting his name throughout the stadium.

The crowd rose to their feet as the swimmers entered the water, growing louder and louder with anticipation at each turn.

Australian Timothy Hodge took the gold and set a new Paralympic record with a time of 2 minutes, 13.31 seconds.

Ugo finished second with a time of 2:15.98, followed by fellow French swimmer, Hector Denayer, who took the bronze medal with a time of 2:17.34. The SM9 category is for swimmers with low-level coordination problems in the arms and legs and a major weakness in one leg or a missing limb.

The Iranian men's sitting volleyball team shrugged off its first hiccup of the Paralympics to beat Egypt in four sets Thursday and advance to the gold medal match.

The seven-time Paralympic champions will go for their third straight gold in Friday's final against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Iran dropped the third set against Egypt but was back to its dominating self in the fourth, winning it 25-8 to clinch the semifinal victory.

With the tallest Paralympian on its roster, Iran has the height advantage on the court. Morteza Mehrzadselakjani is over 8-feet tall and towers over the net, slamming home shots that are hard to defend.

“If I’m, let’s say, the winner of this championship, bringing (him) can be considered one of the most important (things) that I have already done during my own life," head coach Hadi Rezaeigarkani said after the match.

Paris marks Mehrzadselakjani’s third Paralympic Games — he already possesses two golds from Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. At a young age he was diagnosed with acromegaly, a condition that causes excess growth. Mehrzadselakjani uses a wheelchair to get around since a bicycle accident injured his pelvis and stunted the growth of his right leg, which is six inches shorter than his left.

American Oksana Masters did it again Thursday, claiming her ninth career Paralympic gold medal and 19th overall in the women’s H5 road race, a kneeling handcycling category.

The 35-year-old Masters kept pace with China’s Sun Bianbian, Italy’s Ana Maria Vitelaru and Germany’s Andrea Eskau over much of 56.8-kilometer (35-mile) race, taking the lead for good with 3 kilometers to go.

“I just went into survival mode,” Masters said. “I channeled and believed in what my team believed in me.”

Masters built up an 11-second lead on the final uphill section. She finished with a time of 1 hour, 52 minutes, 14 seconds. Sun took silver and Vitelaru placed in the bronze medal spot.

The H5 road race is the second gold in as many races for Masters in Paris. She will compete in her third and final race on Saturday in the mixed H1-5 team relay.

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Anna Licastro, Jack Rachinsky and Avery Hill contributed to this report. They and Amanda Vogt all are students in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

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AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games