The Italian pair began the day by claiming a 19-21, 21-18, 15-10 victory over Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira at the quarter-final stage.

They were expected to struggle in the last four against the 2013 world champions Brouwer and Meeuwsen, but they surprisingly claimed the opening set 21-18.

The third seeds hit back to take the second 21-15, however it would only prove a temporary respite as Lupo and Nicolai triumphed 15-13 in the decider.

“We cannot play at the same level for all the tournaments,” Nicolai said afterwards.

“Now we are playing good for the second tournament.

“We are focused to be in the Olympics, we have a lot of points but we are not sure.

“So we play every tournament and try to get better and better and then we will think about the Olympics.”

The Italian pair will now face the reigning world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt, after the Brazilians triumphed 21-17, 21-13 in their semi-final.

Brazil could celebrate double success tomorrow after Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes advanced to the women’s gold medal match.

The top seeds triumphed 21-16, 21-16 against Australia’s Louise Bawden and Taliqua Clancy to continue their impressive run.

Rio Grand Slam winners April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings also progressed, following a 21-19, 21-16 win over Germany’s Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler.

The Americans will be seeking to extend their unbeaten record in 2016 to 17 matches tomorrow, when both the finals and bronze medal games will take place.