Brazilians Juliana and Larissa battle to win the gold medal

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, October 21, 2011 – World champions Juliana Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil made a successful defense or their Pan American title but not before a grueling battle with Mexico’s Bibiana Candelas and Mayra Garcia that lasted 59 minutes on Friday.

Juliana and Larissa came from behind to prevail in the thrilling tie-breaker 2-1 (21-15, 20-22, 22-20) in front of a capacity crowd at Pan American Stadium of Puerto Vallarta who watched the home pair to get within two points of the victory but had to settle for the silver.

“Mexico played very well but we also wanted the gold and goy it”, Larissa said after the match. “The fans strongly supported Mexico and you have to admire that. I am very happy with this gold medal.”

“The Brazilians are the world champions and against a team like you can’t make errors in the critical moments,” Candelas said. “We let the game escape but you have to take that as a learning experience. Now we know we can play against the best and look forward to qualify to the London Olympics.”

The match for the bronze medal was also a tough battle with Puerto Rico’s Yarleen Santiago and Yamileska Yantin disposing of the USA tandem of Emily Day and Heather Hughes 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 15-7).

“I receive the bronze medal with a lot of joy and emotion,” Santiago said. “I thank to the Lord for giving me the opportunity to be here healthy after three years of heavy training. This medal is like a reward.”