Brazilian defending champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos were defeated in men's beach volleyball semifinal at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

They lost to their Brazilian compatriots, Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes 20-22 and 18-21.

"Fabio and Marcio played very well in the match. Their blocks and strikes were excellent and we made a lot of mistakes," commented Santos after the match.

"I wish them very good performance in the final and I will cheer for them," he told a press conference.

The defending champions will meet Georgia's Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro, who lost to U.S. duo Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser in another semifinal, in the bronze medal match on Friday.

Araujo and Magalhaes said they hadn't expected they could win the match against defending champions.

"We knew it would be very difficult so we put all our energy to play against them and make every ball perfect. We gave 120 percent of our energy, not 100 percent," said Araujo.

"We played well in defense and blocks," he said.

The two Brazilians will face U.S. duo Rogers/Dalhausser in the final.

Araujo and Magalhaes, placed fourth on the Olympic qualification standing, were winners of 11 FIVB World Tour events and gold medallists at the 2005 FIVB World Championships.

The 34-year-old Araujo was named FIVB World Tour best defensive player in 2005, best setter in 2007, and the 29-year-old Magalhaes was FIVB best blocker in 2005 and most improved player that year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2008)