Boccia gold at last for HK's Ho and Tse on Day 8
Bowlers Ho Yuen-kei and Tse Tak-wah have secured Team Hong Kong, China's third gold medal at the Paris Paralympics, after edging the defending champions from South Korea. But the SAR came up short in the other boccia final and went home with a silver, while the city's wheelchair fencers continue their search for a medal.  Hong Kong have three golds, four silvers and a bronze so far after day eight of the action in the French capital.

New boccia powerhouse is born
 The bowlers from Hong Kong extended their dominance in boccia, after Ho and Tse defeated the South Korean pair of Jeong Ho-won and Kang Sun-hee 5-3 in the BC3 gold medal match. Ho and Tse started off strong, taking a 3-0 lead in the first end, before the reigning champions levelled the score in the second. But a costly mistake by the South Koreans in their final bowl in the third end allowed the SAR to gain a pivotal point, before the Hong Kong pair finished it off in the fourth frame to secure gold. Ho, a three-time Paralympian, will come home with two golds.
 Both she and Tse said the disappointment in Tokyo fuelled them to work even harder. That meant sacrificing time time with family and friends, Ho conceded. "After waiting for so many years, striving for so long, finally we did it. It turns out that as long as you believe, nothing is impossible," she told reporters.
 Also on the green, Annie Cheung and Leung Yuk-wing won silver in the BC4 final, after suffering a 1-6 defeat to Colombia's Leidy and Edilson Chica. The siblings clinched the country's first-ever boccia gold with the wire-to-wire victory. Veteran Leung, a six-time Paralympian, told RTHK he hoped to guide Cheung throughout the Paris campaign as it was her maiden Games. "I was quite satisfied with my overall performance, but there were some bowls that I didn't handle too well," he said. "I hoped to play better because I had a leadership role."  Cheung said she hoped the experience will help her improve at Los Angeles 2028.
 In a historic feat, Hong Kong topped the boccia medal table at a single Games, as the action drew to a close in Paris. With three golds and two silvers, the SAR finished ahead of the national team and South Korea.

Fencers still eyeing first podium 
 Hong Kong's wheelchair fencers, however, were defeated by Italy in the women's team foil bronze medal match. Alison Yu, Fan Pui-shan, Tong Nga-ting and Irene Chung led by 15-12 at one point, but eventually fell 33-45 to the silver medallists from Tokyo.
 Despite the setback, Yu said the team tried their best and she was happy with their overall performance.

China bags 31 more medals
 Meanwhile, Team China bagged 12 golds, nine silvers and 10 bronzes on day eight of the Games.  Runner Jin Hua broke his own Paralympic record in the T54 800 metres to win gold, as did F33 shot putter Wu Ching.
 The national team also won top prizes in wheelchair fencing, boccia, table tennis and swimming.