Smith going for gold and McCowan for bronze

British boccia star David Smith MBE will be going for gold tomorrow after he today battled past his opponents at the Ariake Arena.

With four medals from across three Paralympics, Smith has jointly held the honour of Britain’s most highly decorated boccia player with Nigel Murray since Rio 2016. But tomorrow’s final now ensures he take on the sole mantle.

David Smith is now the best British boccia player of all time.

Smith, the defending BC1 champion who has sported a striking red and blue Mohican in Tokyo, will face Malaysia’s Chew Wei Lun after today outwitting Jose Carlos Chagas de Oliveira of Brazil 7-4. It was the second boccia masterclass of the day after the man from Eastleigh – who now lives in Swansea – overcame the World number two Witsanu Huadpradit of Thailand.

“He was getting in quickly which made it difficult for me but I was able to whack it open. It hasn’t sunk in yet but I am now the most successful British player of all-time. I haven’t played Wei Lun before but he’s a tidy player. I’m looking forward to that!”

Smith was keen to credit the support of UK Sport and the National Lottery:

“With Britain winning a medal at the Beijing Games, boccia was transformed in the UK massively. UK Sport and the National Lottery got on board and we got professionalised. We now have some of the best physios in the world in my opinion and brilliant support. It has changed my life.”

Meanwhile, Britain also has medal hopes for Dundonald’s Scott McCowan who will tomorrow fight it out for bronze with Australia’s Daniel Michel.  The BC3 player – whose ramp assistant is his father, Gary - has had a terrific run in Tokyo but his dreams of making it through to the finals were today ended in a dramatic tiebreak with World Champion Greg Polychronidis of Greece.

Earlier in the day, the Scotsman stormed through the quarter-finals with a cool, calm 9-1 victory over Brazil’s Evelyn de Oliveira;

“This is the best I’ve played in any tournament but ultimately it just wasn’t enough today. I’ll come back fighting tomorrow and if I can put in the same level of performance, I should be able to get that medal.”

Scott McCowan with Dad Gary in the semi-finals