Dutch pair Jara Both and Matilda de Groot will face Italy’s Margherita Coretti and Micol Lafuenti for girls’ beach volleyball gold at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics. Volleyball World reported that both unbeaten pairs advanced to the November 4 final at Saly Beach West.
Dutch pair wins a familiar matchup
Second seeds Both and de Groot defeated Chinese top seeds Ming Zhuang and Siyu Qi 23-21, 21-19, extending their perfect tournament record to six matches. It was their third meeting of the year after splitting two encounters at the U18 World Championships in The Hague.
The Dutch players told Volleyball World that serving pressure was part of their plan. Their quarterfinal victory had come against Nigeria’s Pamela Miyoum Bawa and Joy Lawrence, 21-14, 21-16. China reached the semifinal by beating Mexico’s pair 21-12, 28-26.
Italy survives its first dropped set
Coretti and Lafuenti overcame Switzerland’s Anja Gähwiler and Noemi Eugster 21-19, 13-21, 15-10. The second set was Italy’s first lost set of the tournament, but the fourth seeds remained unbeaten. Earlier, they had defeated Argentina’s pair 21-19, 21-15.
The Italians attributed their difficult semifinal spell to errors before recovering composure in the decider. The medal programme on November 4 starts with China–Switzerland for bronze at 11:00 local time/GMT, followed by the gold match at 14:00. Those matches will determine the medals; the semifinal results establish the pairings rather than a champion.