Tokyo 2020 have announced they will stage a wheelchair basketball event to mark five years to go until the Paralympic Games begin ©Tokyo 2020

Tokyo 2020 have announced they will stage a wheelchair basketball event to celebrate five years to go until the Paralympic Games come to the Japanese capital city.

The event, jointly hosted by the Organising Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, is due to take place in Diver City Tokyo Plaza on August 25 to mark the five-year milestone.

It will be attended by members of the public as well as a number of Paralympians and Japanese basketball players, who will take part in wheelchair basketball demonstrations in order to inspire the public.

Wheelchair basketball Paralympians Hiroaki Kozai and Shinji Negi, who captained the Japanese team at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, are two of the confirmed participants.

London 2012 Olympic Games boxing bronze medallist Satoshi Shimizu, third in the bantamweight division at the event three years ago, is one of the biggest names on the list of attendees.

He will be joined by able-bodied volleyball player Motoko Obayashi, who competed at three consecutive Olympic Games and was named Most Valuable Player at Barcelona 1992 and is another athlete who will take part in the event.

A number of Japanese wheelchair basketball players will be attending the event in Tokyo on August 25
A number of Japanese wheelchair basketball players will be attending the event in Tokyo on August 25 to celebrate five years to go until the start of the Paralympic Games ©Getty Images

Other attendees include wheelchair basketball players Hiroyuki Nagata, Kiyoshi Fujisawa and Shohei Harada, as well as basketball player Tomoya Nakamura.

It is hoped the event will help boost support for the Games and give the general public a flavour of what is to come in 2020.

The Games, due to begin on August 25 and run through to September 6, will feature 22 sports after the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board confirmed the programme for the event in January.

Canoe and triathlon, due to make their debuts at Rio 2016, will join athletics, archery, boccia, cycling, equestrian, football seven-a-side, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis in taking place at Tokyo 2020.



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