Men

Two late goals from Vasyl Oliinyk gave Ukraine a shock 6-4 win over defending champions Brazil to reach a first Paralympics final.

After a remarkable start to the contest where both teams scored with their first shots, Oliinyk traded hat-tricks with Leomon Moreno before his decisive late contribution.

Up against the competition’s top-scorers and just days after they had been convincingly beaten 6-1 by China, it was an impressive defensive effort to earn the right to play Japan in the showpiece.

Brazil’s defeat means they will play ChinaChina in the bronze medal match and despite missing out on gold, is not an encounter they will take lightly: ‘We will take all our motivation into this match as it is an important match for goalball in Brazil so we have to keep our heads up.’

The result ensures Denmark at Athens 2004 remain the only side to successfully defend their title and is a second straight Games where the reigning champions have lost in the last-four.

Their coach Jonatas Castro thought his side had just given themselves too much to do in the end: ‘We tried to keep within a score of Ukraine for longer but we had to force and push some shots which was difficult for us. It’s an honour for me to coach such a great team like Brazil.’

An outstanding first-half performance saw Japan beat China 13-5 to reach a maiden Paralympic final.

With five goals from Koji Miyajiki and a Kazuya Kaneko hat-trick, they effectively booked their place in the final by half-time and ensured there will be a first-time gold medalist when they face Ukraine.

The impressive striking duo’s total combined goal tally of 39 is more than any country has managed so far.

Their previous meeting in Paris was a much closer affair with China winning by the odd goal in 13 but Japan avenged that loss and from the Tokyo quarter-finals three years ago.

The manner of this defeat will shock China but they still have the opportunity for a medal when they face reigning champions Brazil in a repeat of the Tokyo 2020 final in the bronze medal game.

Women

Turkey remain on course for a third consecutive gold medal after beating Brazil 3-1 in the last-four.

Sevda Altonoluk scored twice and Fatma Guler once to set-up a showpiece against first-time finalists Israel who narrowly saw off China.

An opportunity to create history by becoming the first country to claim three consecutive titles beckons for the 2016 and 2020 champions.

Brazil managed a draw against the same opponents in their Paris opener and impressed in beating Japan in the quarter-final but will now compete for bronze against China.

Israel will play in their first Paralympic final against Turkey after edging past China 2-1 with Elham Mahamid-Ruzin scoring the second-half winner.

They had remarkably lost 6-1 in the group stage to the same opponents but will now have the opportunity to claim a first major title after claiming a silver medal at the 2019 European Championships in their only previous showpiece appearance.

Lihi Ben David, the star of their quarter-final win over Canada, gave them an early lead but Chunhua Wang levelled before Mahamid-Ruzin’s historic moment.

They celebrated effusively with their families at full-time and her teammate Or Mihrazi noted the difference they make: ‘It makes us feel a part of something. We are not here only for ourselves. We had a tough year, and we are still having a tough time at home. ‘It just makes everything so much bigger and makes our spirit and heart go that much farther.’

It was a first defeat of the competition for China as their wait for an elusive Paralympic title goes on with their attention now turns to the bronze medal match against Brazil. Brazil.

France were denied a first-ever win at the Paralympics in dramatic fashion after losing 2-1 on extra throws to fellow debutants Korea.

Eunji Kim scored the decisive penalty after the teams couldn’t be separated in overtime following a 2-2 draw as Korea finished their Paris campaign in a creditable seventh place.

In normal time, first-half strikes from Seonhwa Sim and Minji Seo either side of Loise Rondepierre’s equaliser looked to have sealed a second win over the hosts in Paris for Korea, but Adelia Ajami struck to force overtime.

Having fallen to a mercy defeat by China in the last-eight and conceded six to Korea only days earlier, this was France’s best display by far and one coach Anthony Puaud was rightly proud of: ‘I’m sad about the result as we had a good chance to win but the team was together and the spirit was good which is more important’.

With the home support playing their part throughout the week, Puaud was effusive of the reception his players received: ‘It was amazing and we have a lot of staff with us in the team so we are very happy to share this moment with all of them.’

Canada recovered from their comprehensive quarter-final defeat to Israel by beating Japan 1-0 and claiming fifth place in Paris.

Amy Burk scored the only goal as they avenged their earlier group stage defeat to the Tokyo silver medalists in what was a similarly close encounter between two of the best defences in the competition.

Ending the Games with three clean sheets and conceding just three goals in five matches, their defence shone again, but for Japan it was a disappointing end to finish sixth after winning all their group stage games.