Brazilian duo Barbara Seixas and Agatha Bednarczuk dished out a first ever Olympic loss to American great Kerri Walsh Jennings amid a fevered atmosphere on Copacabana beach to reach the final of the women’s beach volleyball.

The Brazilians won the tournament semi-final 22-20, 21-18 after midnight with key saves from Seixas and big blocks by Bednarczuk too much for April Ross and 38-year-old Walsh Jennings, who was aiming for a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event.

“It still hasn’t sunk in what we’ve done, beating a player who has never lost at the Olympics,” said Bednarczuk, who won the World Championship title last year with Seixas as her partner.

“Since the start of these Games we’ve been able to grow in each match, improving our concentration, our accuracy, and I think that made the difference.”

The packed stands on Copacabana beach roared after every Brazilian point, the crowd backing the last local shot at gold after Germany eliminated Brazil’s other team, Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes, in the other semi-final.

European champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst eased home 21-18, 21-12 against the Brazilians to become Germany’s first women’s team to medal in the beachvolley event.

In the men’s tournament, Brazil’s Bruno Schmidt and Alison Cerutti will face Italian opposition in the final after the world champions edged out their Dutch rivals.

The Brazilians produced a commanding first set in their semi-final but squandered a two-point lead late in the next, before buckling down for a 21-17, 21-23, 16-14 win over Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen.

Carried by Paolo Nicolai’s blazing serves and Daniele Lupo’s sly tips for most their match, the Italians continued their remarkable run as lucky losers from the pool stage of the tournament to register a 15-21, 21-16, 15-13 over Russia’s Konstantin Semenov and Via-cheslav Krasilnikov.