Tokyo Paralympics: Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson loss in tennis quad doubles caps gold-free day

A lean day for Australia at the Paralympics has extended all the way to the tennis as Dylan Alcott’s bid for a Tokyo tennis quad doubles gold medal fell short.

Alcott and Heath Davidson won gold at Rio 2016, but they suffered a straight-sets loss to Dutch duo Sam Schroder and Niels Vink in a rain-affected match on Wednesday.

The winning duo represent generation next in wheelchair tennis: Vink is just 18 years old, Schroder 21.

The 6-4 6-3 defeat ensured Australia failed to win a gold medal for the entire day.

Instead, Australia had to be content with two silvers and four bronzes.

Alcott and Davidson were gracious in defeat, hugging their jubilant opponents at the net.

“We got pumped tonight,” Alcott said.

“No excuses - no rain, no roof closure, no me being tired - they were better than us and they deserved it.

“Our level wasn’t there. Win, lose, or draw - Heath’s my best mate. Medals come and go, but that friendship stays forever.

“I’m gutted and I wanted to win gold, but I’m still so proud of Heath, and I know he’s proud of me.”

Alcott will have a chance to earn a slice of revenge when he takes on Schroder in the quad singles final on Thursday night.

Although Australia didn’t win a gold medal on Wednesday, the foundation has been set for success in the coming days.

Ma Lin and Joel Coughlan came up trumps in the semi-finals of the men’s table tennis teams event to set up a gold medal match against China on Friday.

The Australian women’s team featuring Lina Lei and Qian Yang also made the final, where they will take on Poland.

Four Australians claimed medals in the pool on Wednesday night.

Gold medal fancy Tim Hodge just fell short to Russian Andrei Kalina in a thrilling 200m individual medley SM9 final, claiming his first silver medal.

Tiffany Thomas Kane, Thomas Gallagher and Blake Cochrane all picked up bronze medals.

Daniel Michel claimed Australia’s first boccia medal since 1996 when he beat Great Britain’s Scott McCowan 6-1 in the men’s BC3 individual bronze medal match.

There were no medals for Australia’s athletics team on Wednesday.

Samuel Carter finished fifth in the men’s T54 100m while Rosemary Little came fifth in the women’s F32 shotput.

Little had been in line for the bronze with two athletes left but was bumped into fourth, then fifth, with gold medallist Anastasiia Moskalenko’s winning mark of 7.61m also bettering the world record Australian Katherine Proudfoot (7.04m) set in 2017.

Angela Ballard came seventh in the women’s 100m T53 final while Eliza Ault-Connell finished eighth in the women’s 100m T54 final.

Australian Grant Allen finished sixth in the final of the men’s 79.2km H4 road race, finishing 18 seconds behind winner Jetze Plat from the Netherlands. Stuart Tripp finished seventh in the H5 class.

The Australian Rollers’ wheelchair basketball team lost to Japan 61-55 in a result that means they’ll miss the podium for a second straight Paralympics.

The Australian Belles’ bid to make the goalball semi-finals for the first time came undone when they were beaten 10-6 by Turkey in the quarter-finals.