Brazil’s beach volleyball duo of Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva won Olympic bronze Wednesday, beating China’s Xue Chen and Zhang Xi in a three-set thriller.
Franca and Silva, the reigning Olympic champions, battled back from a first-set thrashing to scrape a 2-1 win at Horse Guards Parade.
Chen and Xi were hunting for a second successive Olympic bronze after beating a Brazilian pair to the medal in Beijing four years ago, and got off to a good start by winning the first set 21-11.
Franca and Silva fought back in a close second set to win 21-19 before closing out the match 15-12 in the decider.
The United States are certain of gold and silver as Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings face off against Jennifer Kessy and April Ross in an all-American final later Wednesday.