BEIJING — The American team of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won their 103rd straight women's beach volleyball match Tuesday (Beijing time) with a 21-15, 21-16 victory over the Cuban team of Fernandez Grasset and Larrea Peraza.

Walsh and May-Treanor, the defending Olympic champions, have won 18 straight tournaments as a pair and are the favorite for the gold. They will next face a Norwegian team in pool play Thursday at 9 a.m. Beijing time.

"We don't use the 'L' word," Walsh said, referring to the possibility of losing their winning streak. "We always think positive."

Walsh did, however, lose her wedding ring in a match earlier in the week. It fell off in the sand at the beach volleyball venue while she was trying to block a spike.

Five matches later, the sand was searched. With the aid of NBC's cameras — which showed in slow motion the play in which the ring flew off Walsh's hand — the gold ring was located by volunteers using metal detectors. Walsh wore it again in her Tuesday match, but this time with a bandage wrapped around the ring so she wouldn't lose it again.