China's Xue/Zhang wins beach volleyball bronze

Xue Chen (L) and Zhang Xi of China celebrate victory after the women's bronze medal match against Renata Ribeiro and Talita Rocha of Brazil of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games beach volleyball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 21, 2008. Xue Chen and Zhang Xi won the match 2-0 and got the bornze medal.

China's Zhang Xi and Xue Chen captured the beach volleyball bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, defeating Brazilian pair Talita Antunes/Renata Ribeiro in straight sets.

They made history for China, whose previous best Olympic finish was ninth place by Tian Jia and her then partner Wang Fei at the Athens Games.

Zhang and Xue defeated the Brazilian duo 21-19, 21-17.

"I can't believe we earned the bronze medal," said Zhang, who, along with her partner Xue, is for the first time to compete at the Olympics.

"We readjusted our strategies when we once trail in the first set and we won the set," she said of a decisive turning point in the match.

The two sides traded scores in the first set but the hosts reached the match point at first and ended the set 21-19.

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