Top-seeded Brazilians Alison and Bruno Schmidt narrowly defeated Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands 21-17, 21-23, 16-14 to advance to the men’s Gold Medal Match.
Alison/Bruno Schmidt took the first set 21-17 but the Dutch men rallied back in the second to win 23-21 to force a decisive third set. The teams stayed tied until 14-14 when the Brazilian men pulled away to win 16-14, securing their spot in the men’s Gold Medal Match.
The Brazilian men entered as the tournament’s top seed and a USA vs. Brazil final seemed highly likely. However, Alison and Bruno Schmidt fell to Austria’s Doppler/Horst in the pool play, losing their seeded spot entering the Round of 16. The Brazilian men took on Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena in the men’s quarterfinals where they bested the U.S. 21-14, 12-21, 15-9.
Alison and Bruno Schmidt will face the winner of the men’s semifinal match between Italy’s Nicolai/Lupo and Semenov/Krasilnikov of Russia. The losers of the match will play Brouwer/Meeuwsen in the Bronze Medal Match on Aug. 18.