Mariehamn, Finland, August 21, 2010 - A "tired" Xue Chen and Zhang Xi came back from a first set loss to upset favored Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil to capture the women's gold medal at the US$380,000 PAF Open here Saturday.

After losing the first set 21-18 to the top-seeded Juliana and Larissa, the third-seeded Xue and Zhang claimed the net two sets 21-12 and 15-12 to net their second SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal this season and their sixth international Beach Volleyball title together. The win also provided the Chinese with the $30,000 first-place prize while the Brazilians shared $21,000 for the silver medal finish.

The 55-minute title match also saw Xue and Zhang snap Juliana and Larissa's 40-match SWATCH FIVB World Tour winning streak as the Chinese were the last team to defeat the Brazilians with a mid-June victory at the Russian Grand Slam in Moscow in the semi-finals (12-21, 21-14 and 15-13, 51 minutes).

Juliana and Larissa had defeated the Chinese three times during the streak, including gold medal wins the past two weeks at the Polish Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki (12-21, 21-14 and 15-13, 55 minutes) and last Saturday at the Norwegian stop in Kristiansand (21-19, 22-20, 43). Juliana and Larissa lead the SWATCH FIVB World Tour series with Xue and Zhang 14-6.

"We are delighted with this win, especially after having to play three elimination matches Friday to advance to the semi-finals," said the 25-year old Zhang. The Chinese were upset Thursday in the third-round of the winner's bracket by sixth-seeded Vivian Cunha and Taiana Lima of Brazil 21-19 and 21-11 in 34 minutes. Friday, Xue and Chen eliminated teams from Germany, Switzerland and the United States to reach their 24th SWATCH FIVB World Tour "final four" in 50 international appearances.

Xue and Zhang advanced to their 13th SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal match earlier Saturday by defeating second-seeded Maria Antonelli and Talita Antunes 21-18, 17-21 and 15-13 in the 65-minute second semi-final match. Juliana and Larissa advanced to their 54th SWATCH title match with a 21-15 and 21-18 victory in 44 minutes over Vivian and Lima.

Since the Moscow stop, Juliana and Larissa had been perfect on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour by netting gold medals at stops in Norway (Stavanger and Kristiansand), Switzerland (Gstaad), Austria (Klagenfurt) and Poland (Stare Jablonki) to increase their 2010 title total to seven.

Despite finishing second in the PAF Open and winning gold medals on the Isle of Aland in 2007 and 2009, Juliana and Larissa secured their fifth SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship in the last six seasons on Wednesday with a pair of wins during the opening Main Draw rounds in the double-elimination tournament.

Juliana and Larissa defeated China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the 2007 finale and Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross in the 2009 title match on the Hotel Arkipelag centre court. Xue and Zhang, who placed third in the 2007 Isle of Aland event, eliminated Kessy and Ross from title contention Friday afternoon 21-14 and 21-15 win in 36 minutes.

China has now won four of the 15 women's SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal matches with Brazil. Juliana and Larissa entered play Saturday with a 6-1 gold medal mark against teams from the Asian country with four of their gold medal wins Xue and Zhang. Xue and Zhang are 2-5 against Brazilian teams in finals, including a win over Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly in a 2008 Korean finale in Seoul.

In the bronze medal match, Antonelli and Talita scored a 21-18 and 21-12 win in 36 minutes over Vivian and Lima, who were playing their 11th PAF Open after playing in the preliminary rounds Monday and Tuesday to secure a Main Draw berth. Antonelli and Talita split $15,000 for their second PAF Open bronze medal after finishing third in 2009. Vivian and Lima split $11,200 for fourth-place.

The SWATCH FIVB World Tour continues next week in The Netherlands (The Hague, August 23-29). The Hague is the final event of 14 stops for men in 2010. The women’s 15-stop schedule concludes in China (Sanya, October 26-31) and Thailand (Phuket, November 2-7).