Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson came back from the brink on Thursday to set up the women’s beach volleyball final against the Brazilian pair of Ana Patricia Silva and Eduarda Santos.
The German pair will face top-ranked Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig in the men’s final on Saturday.
Canada’s No. 7 women’s pair opened the evening’s semifinal program with a 14-21, 22-20, 15-12 victory over Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner.
Switzerland were on the verge of winning the second set but their opponents dug deep, saving a match point to force a thrilling decider which they won.
The ecstatic Canadians fell to the sand after sealing the win, hugging and laughing before running into the crowd.
“I’m a runner (when I celebrate),” Humana-Paredes said. “It was an out-of-body experience. I think my body just went through this huge release and I needed to get that energy out.
I think it’s in there somewhere and hopefully we’ll pull it out tomorrow (Friday).”
Brazilian favorites Silva and Santos beat Tokyo silver medalists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Australia but had to come back from a first-set deficit, aided by an impressive block.
The decider was close, but the Brazilians got over the line to win 20-22, 21-15, 15-12.
The pair hugged and cried as an army of Brazilian fans poured down the stadium steps.
In the first men’s semi-final, German Ehlers, who is 6ft 11in (2.11 metres), used his height and reach to great effect as his team took the first set.
But to the delight of their fans, some wearing Viking helmets, the Norwegian pair tried to get the match back.
After a close decision came a dramatic revision after a net error in favor of the Germans.
The winners collapsed on the sand and the stands shook to the rumble of thunder.
After the match, which ended 21-13, 17-21, 15-13, a visibly emotional Ehlers said he had “goosebumps and tears in his eyes.”
“I’m speechless. We can go for the gold. It’s unbelievable.”
Katarín Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan played Sweden’s Ahman and Hellvig for the second time at the Paris Games – the Qataris won the match in the group stage.
But this time the Qatari pair struggled to find their rhythm against the top-ranked Swedes, who are renowned for their attacking style of play known as the ‘Swedish jump-set’.
Younousse and Tijan rallied after losing the first set, but their opponents proved too strong and rallied to win 21-13, 21-17.
