(BEIJING, August 21) -- Xue Chen and Zhang Xi of China won their country's first medal in Beach Volleyball by defeating Brazilian duo Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha 21-19, 21-17 in 39 minutes to win a bronze medal.

　　The Chinese duo were the fourth seed in the Women's Beach Volleyball competition, while the Brazilian pair were the sixth seed.

　　The first set was an even match, with the score being level on 15 occasions. Each team had 19 points apiece after Zhang's serve went out of bounds. The Chinese pair went on to win the match, with the Brazilian duo giving away set point with a wild attempt at a smash. The final score of the first set was 21-19.

　　The Chinese tandem gradually built a lead in the second set with strong attacking play, especially from Zhang. An ace by Xue widened the lead to 15-9. Another errant serve by Zhang allowed the Brazilians to regain serve and launch a comeback, but the Chinese pair were too strong. Xue and Zhang maintained their lead and ran out winners with a final score of 21-17. A clever drop shot by Zhang secured match point and China's first Olympic medal in the sport.

　　The gold medal match will be between another Chinese pair, top-seeded Tian Jia and Wang Jie and US duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, the gold medalist at Athens 2004. The match starts at 11 a.m local time (UTC/GMT +8).