The pair were forced to come from behind to beat the United States John Hyden and Tri Bourne in the Xiamen Open gold medal match and were forced to do so again in their quarter-final meeting.

Hyden and Bourne looked on course to gain revenge after dominating the opening stages of the contest to win the first set 21-14.

They were unable to maintain control of the match, though, with Herrera and Gavira hitting back to claim the second 21-19 and force the match into a decider.

The Spaniards completed the comeback, triumphing 15-12 in the crucial third set.

“We played the same as the final in Xiamen,” said Herrera.

“We tried to have a strong side out and then tried to block Hyden and make him move around the court to try to get some points through blocking.”

Herrera and Gavira are now due to face Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in the semi-finals after the Italian pairing defeated Canada’s Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter 21-18, 21-16 in last eight encounter.

Top seed Americans Philip Dalhausser and Nicholas Lucena overcame Mexico’s Juan Virgen and Lombardo 21-17, 21-12 to book their place in the semi-finals.

They will meet Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins, after their quarter-final opponents, Russia's Nikita Liamin and Dimitri Barsouk, withdrew through injury.

The women’s pool stage drew to a close today, with top seeds Kerri Walsh and April Ross of the US claiming a hard-fought 21-19, 20-22, 15-10 win over Germany’s Julia Sude and Chantal Laboureur.

Walsh and Ross will now meet their compatriots Jennifer Kessy and Emily Day in the second round after they defeated Switzerland’s Nicole Eiholzer and Dunja Gerson 21-10, 15-21, 15-6.

The Swiss pair ended second in their pool, having been beaten 21-19, 21-14 by Germany’s Karla Borger and Britta Büthe.

The second seeded Germans are now scheduled to take on Switzerland’s StefanieSchwaiger and Barbara Hansel, after they defeated Slovakia’s Natalia Dubovcova and Dominika Nestarcova 26-24, 21-18.