Algeria were forced to work hard to beat Morocco in their first men’s match at the Vodacom Mandeville Indoor Sports Centre.

A tightly fought contest saw the scores tied at 55-all at the end of the four periods.

Algeria were able to edge ahead in overtime, eventually winning the match 70-64.

South Africa also began impressively, as the host nation eased to a 72-53 victory against Egypt.

Algeria and South Africa will meet tomorrow, with the winners of the tie likely to top the round robin standings.

All four teams will advance to the semi-finals, with the group winner facing the team bottom of the standings.

The semi-finals are scheduled to take place on Friday (March 6), with medal matches held the following day.

The winner of the final will join United States, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Britain, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Iran, South Korea and hosts Japan at the Paralympic Games.

Algeria beat South Africa 53-33 in the first match of the women’s Paralympic qualification event.

The two countries are competing in a five-match series to determine the qualifier for Tokyo 2020.

The winners will advance to the Paralympic tournament, where they will join The Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Spain, Canada, United States, Australia, China and Japan.

Wheelchair basketball faces the threat of being removed from this year's Paralympic Games unless the governing body implements an IPC-approved action plan to improve athlete classification by May 29.