The Tokyo 2020 gold medallists were beaten on a tie-breaker - 21-14, 14-21, 15-12 -  by Ondřej Perušič and David Schweiner of the Czech Republic.

 Brazil’s reigning women’s champions Duda and Ana Patrícia, however, have reached tomorrow’s semi-finals without dropping a set.

"What we just did, we didn’t even believe we were capable of beating the Norwegians in one of the most important tournaments of the Olympic quad,"  Perušič told Volleyball World.

"They’re by far the best team in the world and to beat them we knew we had to play well and to have a little bit of luck, as we did especially at the start of the tie-breaker."

The Czech pair had arrived in Mexico with plenty of confidence after taking gold at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Paris Elite16 the week before, but saw their initial momentum falter with two losses in pool play.

Their reward for the surprise victory in Tlaxcala is a semi-final against Taylor Crabb and Theo Brunner of the United States, who secured a  21-17, 21-14  victory over Brazil's Pedro Solberg and Guto in Huamantla.

The other semi-final will be contested by Poland’s Michal Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak, who earned a 21-19, 21-16 win over Miles Partain and Andy Benesh of the United States, and Sweden’s David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig.

"This is like a dream for us," Bryl commented.

"We became partners a year and a half ago and to do well at this event was one of our main goals."

The Swedes were pushed to their limits by the Dutch pair Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot in Apizaco, but managed to secure a three-set win 32-30, 22-24, 15-12.

All four of tomorrow's semi-finals will be played at the Tlaxcala venue.