(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-13 16:03

China's beach volleyball pair of Xue Chen/Zhang Xi lost to top-seeded Brazilians Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca in the final of the 350,000-US-dollar Otera Open held in Kristiansand, Norway on Saturday.

With a 21-17, 21-16 win in 38 minutes over second-seeded Xue/Zhang, Juliana and Larissa shared the 30,000 US dollars first-place prize.

Saturday's title was Juliana and Larissa's third gain this season on the beach volleyball world tour and 17th in total since forming their partnership 48-FIVB-event ago at the start of the 2004 season.

"We are tired since we have been playing almost without stop since February when we opened our domestic season in Rio de Janeiro," said the 25-year old Larissa on FIVB's website.

"The pressure is also a lot greater this year since we are in midst of the Olympic qualifying process for Beijing. That's our goal and every match is important."

Juliana/Larissa, who now have a 17-12 record in gold medal matches with 40 podium placements, also notched up a 22-20, 26-28 and 15-10 win in 67 minutes over third-seeded Tian Jia/Wang Jie of China, the top-ranked team this season.

Xue/Zhang, who advanced to the title match Saturday with a 21-17 and 21-19 victory over fourth-seeded Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau of Germany, were in their fourth-straight "final four" this season as the Chinese pair shared the second-place prize 20,000 US dollars.