Latvia continue shock run

BEIJING (Reuters) - Latvia scored another upset at the Olympic beach volleyball on Wednesday and Brazilians Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos showed they had lost none of the fire that powered them to gold in Athens.

Latvian duo Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs came to Beijing ranked 21st and toppled the U.S. world champions in their opening match. They beat Switzerland's top team 2-1 on Wednesday to win their pool and take the second seeding in the last 16 draw.

"That was the most important game in my career. I was shaking in the bus on the way here," said Samoilovs, 23. "But then I got out on to centre court, remembered our match against the Americans and thought: 'This is our day. This is our game'."

U.S. pair Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser have found their feet again since losing to Latvia and also progressed.

There have been no surprises for 2003 world champions Emanuel and Ricardo, who look stronger by the match.

In their last pool game, they beat Australia 21-14 21-17 covering the court with the sort of sixth sense harmony you would expect from synchronized swimmers.

"Two years ago we were like friends. Now we're like brothers. We understand each other, we respect each other and we're finding another level," said 35-year-old Emanuel.

In the women's draw, Australian veteran Natalie Cook and Tamsin Barnett won their pool by beating Brazil's top team in another stunning show of athleticism, while China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie fought back from one set down against Norway to win their group.

Second U.S. team Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh also survived an early scare against Cuba to win their pool.

The last group games and will be played on Thursday followed by "lucky loser" matches to fill the final spaces in the last 16.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)