Brazil's duo of Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca defeated China's Beach Volleyball duo of Xue Chen and Xi Zhang in an intense bronze medal match. They Brazilian duo had to come back in this one, taking the match 11-21, 21-19, 15-12.
China breezed by the first set. Brazil scored first but they tied the game at two and never looked back.
Announcers wondered about the relationship between Brazil's Juliana and Franca.
There was a lack of communication and execution on the part of the Brazilians. Brazil was forced to take a timeout after Franca's spike went long and they were losing 11-6.
China scored right after the timeout and took a 12-6 lead. After a Brazilian point, China scored two in a row to take a 14-7. The final point came on a block by Chen. The lead was now by seven.
Xue and Zhang took advantage of Brazilian errors and kept their lead, which increased to 10 as they defeated the Brazilians 21-11.
The second set had both teams tied 7-7 until Brazil took a 9-7 lead. Juliana Silva poked one over the head of Xue Chen for the lead.
Franca then helped Brazil keep the 2-point lead after hitting one down the line for the score.
After Xue Cheng hit the ball out of the court, Brazil took a 12-9 lead for some more breathing room.
After a timeout, China scored four consecutive points to take the 13-12 lead, but most important wipe the momentum from Brazil.
After a timeout China and Brazil tied at 13 and 14. China took the 16-14 lead and they kept a 2-point lead until Brazil tied the match at 19. They scored three consecutive points to stay alive and steal the set.
The momentum carried over to the third set as the Brazilians took a 2-0 lead. It was now the Chinese lacking execution as their errors helped Silva and Franca take a 6-2 lead.
They extended their lead to 9-4 after changing sides. They did not maintain five point lead as China went on a 7-4 run to make the match 13-11.
Zhang went long on a spike and Brazil took the 14-11 lead with match point. Larissa Franca poked one over the heads of the Chinese and hit the sand for the winner.
