PARIS: Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El-Idrissi has smashed the world record in the women’s marathon for runners with visual impairments on the last day of the Paralympic Games.

El-Idrissi finished in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 36 seconds on Sunday, beating the previous record from Japan’s Mizato Michishita in Hofu City in December 2020 by nearly six minutes.

“I wasn’t running for a time, only for a medal,” the 29-year-old Moroccan said. “I wasn’t aiming to get the world record, just to get the gold, and now I have both.”

Compatriot Meryem En-Nourhi was just over 9 minutes behind, followed by Michishita, almost 15 minutes behind the winner.

Elena Congost thought she’d won bronze, but the Spanish runner was later disqualified for releasing the rope to her guide, Mia Carol Bruguera, before the finish.

Michishita only found out she was upgraded to bronze after doping control.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” said the Japanese runner, who said she got injured after winning the last edition in Tokyo and wasn’t certain she’d be able to race in Paris.

Tunisia’s Wajdi Boukhili won the men’s T12 marathon.

The 25-year-old Boukhili finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 5 seconds, ahead of Spain’s Alberto Suarez Laso and Paralympic record holder El Amin Chentouf of Morocco. All three ran season-best times.

Swiss wheelchair racers Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hug won the women’s and men’s marathons for the T53/54 catagories.

Debrunner, the world record holder, finished in 1:41:50, more than four minutes ahead of Australia’s Madison de Rozario and the US’ Susannah Scaroni, who took silver and bronze, respectively.

Tatyana McFadden, the most decorated American wheelchair racer, was seventh, just over 12 minutes behind Debrunner. The 35-year-old leaves Paris with a silver medal from the 100 and bronze from the 4x100 universal relay.

Hug won the men’s race in 1:27:39, ahead of China’s Jin Hua and Tomoki Suzuki of Japan.

Dutch women defend gold in wheelchair basketball

The Netherlands’ women’s team defended its gold medal in wheelchair basketball with a 63-49 win over the United States in the final.

Bo Kramer contributed 23 points and Mariska Beijer 22 as the Dutch made their experience count before an appreciative crowd at a packed Bercy Arena.

Trailing 48-37 going into the fourth quarter, the American players clasped hands as they listened to coach Christina Schwab’s team-talk. Ixhelt Gonzalez lifted their hopes with 2 points on a break.

RIYADH: On Super Saturday at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters, Judd Trump clinched the title after a sensational 10-9 win against Mark Williams in a black-ball-deciding final.

After an 18-frame battle at the Green Halls in Riyadh, Williams built up a 62-point lead before a long-range miss gave Trump a chance. With a superb 72 clearance, Trump clinched the match, potting a last black to take the title.

In the immediate aftermath of his win, the world No. 1 said: “To pull off that clearance at the end under that pressure like that; it means this certainly ranks up there with the best wins of my career — it’s in the top two or three. It’s such a great feeling and there was so much elation and disbelief when that black went in. I’m in shock at the moment — but it’s been a life-changing week and I’m delighted to get the win.

“It’s a match I always look forward to when I’m playing Mark,” Trump added. “It’s a privilege to be playing in this era of snooker, against players like him. I’ve never seen anybody pot long shots from that distance like he did tonight — he was the much better player for the majority of the match, but I managed to get over the line at the end with that clearance. I was in my seat hoping for a chance in the last frame and fortunately it came.”

It was advantage Trump after Saturday’s afternoon session with “The Ace in the Pack” leading 3-1 at the interval, extending his advantage to 4-1 before Williams bounced back with successive centuries.

A 121 in the sixth and 132 in the seventh moved the Welshman within one frame at 4-3 before Trump took the eighth to lead 5-3 heading into the evening’s play.

When the match resumed, Williams showed precisely why he’s known as “The Welsh Potting Machine.” The three-time world champion emerged from the break in blistering form, hitting another century en route to winning four of the next five to turn the match on its head and lead 7-6.

Trump responded in frame 14, hitting a cool 76 to make it 7-7. The 2019 world champion then regained the lead at 8-7 before Williams responded once more, effectively making it a best-of-three sprint to the finish line.

Williams again restored the lead. An incredible 138 — his fourth century of the match — moved the 49-year-old within one frame of victory before Trump equalized at 9-9 with a 90 break — setting up the deciding final frame where the 35-year-old came out on top.

With his victory, Trump lifted the fifth major title of his career and 29th ranking event win, moving him beyond the legendary Steve Davis into fourth outright on the all-time list, behind only Ronnie O’Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36), and John Higgins (31).