Takayuki Suzuki's stellar Tokyo Paralympics continued on Monday, the 34-year-old swimmer adding a fourth medal to his games collection, this time a silver in the S4 200-meter freestyle.
Suzuki is now just one short of doubling his total of medals won at the previous four games in which he has competed, having taken his career total to nine -- one gold, one silver and two bronze in Tokyo.
On Monday he won his silver by finishing behind Israel's Ami Omer Dadaon by 10.31 seconds, but he can take solace in his strong swim down the stretch that held off a large chasing contingent.
"The time wasn't my personal best, so in that sense, I'm not satisfied," said Suzuki, who was born with a congenital limb deficiency. "I do have some regret from the race in that sense, but winning a medal means more."
He said once Dadaon had gapped him, his mindset changed.
"There was a large gap between us at the 100-meter point, so I didn't really think of him after that and swam at my own pace."
Suzuki has one individual race to go, the men's 50 freestyle, to hit the pre-games target he set of a medal in each.
A little later on Monday, visually impaired swimmer Uchu Tomita won bronze in the men's 200 SM11 individual medley, claiming the second medal of his debut Paralympics.
Dutchman Rogier Dorsman was the class of the field and won his second gold, but Tomita was able to beat out a large group of competitors to touch third.
Japan's men's wheelchair basketball team closed out the group phase with the team's fourth win, securing second in Group A with a 67-55 win over Turkey.
Hiroaki Kozai was the catalyst in the win, scoring 22 points on 67 percent shooting, while Reo Fujimoto provided backup scoring with 19 and Renshi Chokai did the dirty work, snagging 14 rebounds and distributing eight assists.
"It was a good game led by our stingy defense. We were able to make an adjustment from the game against Spain, during which we couldn't defend against well," said Kozai, referencing the team's only loss of the Paralympic Games so far.
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Paralympics: Japan tops Turkey in wheelchair basketball group finale
It was a mixed day for the host nation at the Ariake Tennis Park.
Big-name player Shingo Kunieda advanced past his third-round opponent Ji Zhenxu of China 6-0, 6-1 in the men's wheelchair tennis WT class singles and Yui Kamiji also cruised, not giving up a game in a two-set destruction of Brazilian Meirycoll Duval in the women's equivalent.
Momoko Ohtani survived a first-set scare to move past Viktoriia Lvova 7-5, 6-1 in the women's WT singles second round.
Kunieda backs up later in the evening with Takashi Sanada to play in the men's doubles quarterfinal.
Sanada had earlier had his WT singles campaign ended in two sets, as did Takuya Miki.
Japan's five-a-side football team fell to a one-win, one-loss record when they came up against the juggernaut Brazil team.
Japan held the South Americans, the winners of every Paralympic gold since the sport's introduction in 2004, to just one goal in the first half, scored by Raimundo Mendes in the fifth minute, before conceding another five minutes into the second half to Tiago da Silva.
The scoreline perhaps flatters the Brazilians, however, as two of their goals came in the last four minutes, both to Riccardo Alves.
