Norfolk reaches quad semi-finals

Norfolk was in superb form to reach the semi-finals

World number one and defending champion Peter Norfolk eased into the last four of the British Open quad singles after a comprehensive straight-sets win.

Norfolk beat former champion Shraga Weinberg of Israel 6-0 6-1 and will next face Dorrie Timmermans.

Norfolk's doubles partner Jamie Burdekin lost out 6-2 6-2 to world number four Nick Taylor, who will play compatriot David Wagner.

Esther Vergeer remains on course for another women's singles crown.

The Dutch star defeated French world number three Florence Gravellier 6-2 6-1 to extend her unbeaten singles record to 363 and will play compatriot and world number two Korie Homan in the final.

Homan, who held a match point against Vergeer before losing in the Beijing Paralympic final, claimed a comprehensive 6-0 6-2 success over world number four Sharon Walraven.

It will be the third consecutive year that the pair have met in the Nottingham decider.

Elsewhere, the top four men's seeds all reached the semi-finals with top seed Shingo Kunieda of Japan set to take on Robin Ammerlaan of the Netherlands while the other tie will be an all-French affair between Stephane Houdet and Michael Jeremiasz.

Jeremiasz was given a scare losing the first set before beating unseeded compatriot Frederic Cattaneo 5-7 6-3 6-3.

Bushell claims 100m world record

Paralympic silver medallist Mickey Bushell has set a 100m wheelchair world record in Ibach, Switzerland.

The 19-year-old from Telford, who races in the T53 class after being born without seven vertebrae in his back, clocked 14.69 seconds.

In doing so, Bushell dipped below the previous mark by three one-hundredths of a second.

Bushell finished runner-up to gold medallist Josh George from the United States in Beijing last summer.

He continued a successful evening by triumphing in the T53 200m in 27.58.

Also at the meeting, Paralympic gold medallist Dave Weir recorded a double success with wins in the T54 800 and 1500m, beating home favourite Marcel Hug in both races but Hug gained revenge by taking the 5000m.

There was also a win for Shelly Woods in the T54 5000m.

Weir got the better of the home favourite Marcel Hug

British trio take Swiss victories

British wheelchair racers David Weir, Shelly Woods and Mickey Bushell all recorded wins at the Jona international meeting in Switzerland.

Double Paralympic gold medallist Weir beat his rival Marcel Hug in the T54 800 and 1500m in tricky wet conditions.

Woods got the better of home favourite Sandra Graf and Canada's Diane Roy in the T54 1500m and 5000m.

Bushell, the new world record holder in the T53 100m, continued his good form by winning the 100 and 200m.

Shuker ready for Wimbledon debut

Somerset-based Lucy Shuker will be the sole British representative in this year's wheelchair doubles events at Wimbledon from 3-5 July.

Although the men's competition is in its fifth year, this is the first time that women's doubles have been included and Shuker is thrilled to be involved.

"When it was announced that there was going to be a women's doubles event, I really wanted to be there," she said.

"It's a real dream come true to have the chance to play at Wimbledon."

Shuker, who took up wheelchair tennis in 2003 after a motorcycle accident left her paralysed, will be playing with Australian Daniela di Toro at SW19 after the pair teamed up in Australia for a couple of tournaments earlier this season.

"Although my ranking was high enough to give me a chance of a place, Dani's wasn't," she told BBC Sport. "But she won the doubles at last month's Japan Open which got her ranking up so we are really looking forward to the challenge.

"Some of the guys who have played in the men's event over the last few years have said that the style of play that Dani and I have with plenty of volleys and drop shots and slice should work better on the grass than it does on other surfaces like clay."

As well as Shuker and di Toro, world number one singles and doubles player Esther Vergeer will team up with world number two Korie Homan in a formidable all-Dutch pairing while Jiske Griffioen of the Netherlands will play with Frenchwoman Florence Gravellier while the field is completed by another Dutch player Sharon Walraven and Germany's Katharina Kruger.

606: DEBATE Give your reaction to the Wimbledon wheelchair doubles events

Shuker and di Toro will train together for four days before the event at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton using their grass court to hone their skills.

"Although competing at last year's Beijing Paralympics was one of my career highlights so far, in tennis terms Wimbledon is a massive competition so I think it will be the biggest event I've played in," said the Briton.

"Hopefully we can do ourselves justice."

In the men's doubles, the defending champions Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink of the Netherlands both return, but with different partners.

Ammerlaan will play with Japan's Shingo Kunieda, who is the current singles number one and who was part of the 2006 winning pairing with Satoshi Saida while Vink plays with compatriot Maikel Scheffers.

Michael Jeremiasz, who won the inaugural 2005 event with Britain's Jayant Mistry, will play with compatriot Stephane Houdet, the doubles world number one as they bid to add the Wimbledon crown to their Paralympic gold medal from Beijing.

Beijing silver medallists Stefan Olsson and Peter Wikstrom will be hoping for revenge on the French pairing.

GB stars shine at World Cup

New world records and some stellar British performances ensured that the 2009 BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester was a successful first step on the road to London 2012.

Six days of competition across four sports - cycling, wheelchair basketball, athletics and swimming - saw some keenly-contested competition and cemented GB's place as one of the leaders in Paralympic sport.

It was the first major disability sport event since Beijing and crowds came out in greater numbers than previous years to hail their Paralympic heroes.

Once again, many of the British big guns delivered on the big stage.

Jody Cundy became the fastest paracyclist of all-time, breaking the 11-second barrier to set a new world record of 10.998 seconds in the flying 200m time trial.

Cundy previously won gold in the team sprint at 2008's Paralympics

It was just one of the many British highlights in the velodrome as the team continued the run of success they enjoyed in Beijing.

While the likes of Darren Kennyand Sarah Storey dominated their events, the tandem events which pair blind or visually-impaired riders with a sighted pilot proved intriguing.

New pairing Simon Jackson andBarney Storey held off the challenge of tandem debutants Neil Fachie (a former sprinter) andDavid Readle in the men's races while in the women's tandem there was also a winning debut for Aileen McGlynn and her new pilot Vicky Begg.

In addition, Olympic gold medallist Jason Queally teamed up for the first time competitively with double Paralympic gold medallistAnthony Kappes with the pair setting a new British open tandem record for the kilo.

Although both the men's and women's basketball teams failed to reach their finals, there were plenty of positives for coaches Murray Treseder and Garry Peel to take out of the event.

The men's team were without three of their key players and the new-look side lost narrowly in their pool games and semi-final but put in their best performance in the bronze medal play-off to easily beat Germany.

The women's team failed to win a game but with five teenagers in the squad, one of whom, Maddie Thompson, is only 14, the future looks bright for them if they can continue to develop together.

The athletics competition was the first chance for new Paralympic head coach Peter Eriksson to assess the squad at his disposal and the Sunday sunshine in Manchester attracted a bigger crowd than normal to the Regional Arena.

Pistorius notched wins in the T44 100m and 400m

South African blade runner Oscar Pistorius stole many of the headlines on his return from a serious boating accident.

But there were still strong performances from double Paralympic gold medallist Dave Weir and sprinters Ben Rushgrove, Katrina Hart andLibby Clegg.

"I'm really enthusiastic about Peter and his ideas and he comes in with a huge amount of ambition," said Tanni Grey Thompson, who was part of the BBC team in Manchester.

"Peter has brought a level of authority to the programme which can only be good and has got a clear view of where disability athletics should be.

"I'm excited about athletics in a way I haven't been for a long time because I can see changes are happening.

"I want Britain to top the athletics medal table and to win more golds than the other sports and I also want the athletes to be the best they can be and have every opportunity to do that."

In the Manchester Aquatics Centre, the GB team dominated the swimming events with a world record for 14-year-old double Paralympic gold medallist Ellie Simmonds.

606: DEBATE Have your say on the World Cup

The Swansea-based pocket rocket had a broad smile on her face after breaking the 100m freestyle record by well over a second and coolly coped with all of the media attention while her contemporaries are struggling with their school books.

"I get stopped on the street more now than I did when I was competing and so many people ask me if I know Ellie," said Grey Thompson

"She is just nowhere near her potential and it is nice for a female athlete to have the profile she does and she is so nice and vibrant."

London 2012 is still 1,190 days away but for all of the competitors in Manchester it remains the ambition and events like the Paralympic World Cup give them the important top-level competition which elite athletes crave.

The British team are showing that their plans are moving in a positive direction but they know that the greater challenges lie ahead.

Highlights - Weir takes 1500m gold

Adaptive rowers to race in Munich

Great Britain's adaptive rowers are looking forward to facing tougher opposition at their first World Cup event of the year in Munich.

The squad won eight medals - including four golds - at Varese regatta in May.

"We're looking forward to testing ourselves against a slightly more varied field," said coach Tom Dyson.

New faces Dave Smith and James Roe join Paralympic bronze medallists Vicki Hansford and Naomi Riches and new cox Rhiannon Henry in the four.

And Samantha Scowen will race with James Roberts in the double scull.

Paralympic champion Tom Aggar and Andy Houghton will race in the single scull, while another Beijing gold medallist, Helene Raynsford, faces a small field in the women's event.

The disability events are integrated with races for able-bodied competitors in Munich, as they will be at the World Championships in Poznan, Poland in August.

Johnson returns under new regime

Paralympic swimming gold medallist Liz Johnson has stepped up her preparations for London 2012 by changing her training base from Swansea to Bath.

The 23-year-old is back in training after recovering from a shoulder injury she carried during her victory in the SB6 100m breastroke in Beijing.

"It's a good feeling to be back. I'm feeling tired, but that means I know I'm working hard," said Johnson.

"London is the big picture now. I moved with a view to defending my title."

She added: "I trained at Swansea for six years and for two Paralympic Games. I've come a long way as a swimmer and become a more rounded person during that time.

"I could have stayed in my comfort zone, but I didn't want to go to 2012 as the same person. I need to evolve as a person and as an athlete, and I think Bath is one of the best places to do that.

"It's a new challenge and the coaching is totally different. It's a great environment and everywhere you look there are decent sportspeople."

Cycling star Stone collects MBE

Double Paralympic cycling champion David Stone has received his MBE in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The Leeds rider, 28, who suffers from cerebral palsy, won the time trial CP1/CP2 and mixed individual road race CP1/CP2 at last year's Beijing Games.

Stone said: "I was quite surprised by how emotional it got. I was suddenly nervous and a bit overwhelmed."

Nottingham's Tim Reddish, who led GB's Paralympic swimming team to a 41-medal haul, collected his OBE.

Reddish, the national performance director for British Disability Swimming, said: "This is an honour which has my name on it but it is really something for the team.

"We are a strong programme, a very strong programme, and it has been for over 10 years.

"Our philosophy as a programme is to look at this year, build from Beijing and develop the younger swimmers coming through. We have a young squad."