Russia had yet to lose a match on route to the semi-final stage of the competition and looked on course to continue that run after Daria Churakova and Irina Glimakova put them ahead.

The duo combined to good effect throughout their tie against Spain’s Pilar Escandell and Rosa Sitja to eventually down their opponents in a decisive set, with the match ending 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the hosts favour.

Gerard Rodriguez and Saulo Tejada got the Spanish team back on level terms after coming from a set down to defeat Nikita Burmakin and Sergey Kuptsov 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Despite her defeat, Burmakin was able to book Russia’s place in the gold medal match, by joining forces with Churakova to beat Sitja and Tejada in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 in the deciding tie.

The hosts will begin as underdogs in the final as top seeds and defending champions Italy eased past France in their last four encounter.

Federica Bacchetta and Sofia Cimatti gave Italy an ideal start to the contest by beating Marie Eve Hoarau and Mathilde Hoarau 7-5, 6-4, before Michele Cappelletti and Matteo Marighella sealed their progression to the final by overcoming Regis Courtois and Mathieu Porry 6-3, 6-2.

Bacchetta and Cappelletti added further gloss to the final scoreline as they eased to a 5-3, 4-2 win over the French pairing of Courtois and Magalie Garnier in the last match of the tie.

A record total of 33 nations have taken part in the fifth edition of the ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championship.

The World Team Championship and the individual ITF Beach Tennis World Championships are the flagship events on the ITF Beach Tennis Tour.