Beach U18 World Championships 2026

Pairs from Brazil, Latvia, USA and Ukraine succeed in U18 women’s qualifiers

Americans Sienna Castillo & Simrin Adams cruise to main draw with three emphatic straight-setters

Published 05:04, 08 Jul 2026

Castillo/Adams (USA) vs H. T. NG/M. Y. WONG (HKG) - Round 1 #112460088

USA’s Simrin Adams in attack

Clara Vieira Lawrenz & Luisa Ianegitz of Brazil, Paula Krieva & Estere Zakite of Latvia, Sienna Castillo & Simrin Adams of the United States and Mariia Shkurat & Marharyta Vapniar of Ukraine were the four teams that passed through Wednesday’s women’s qualifications at the 2026 FIVB Beach Volleyball U18 World Championships in the Hague successfully and secured their spots in Thursday’s main draw action.

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USA’s Sienna Castillo & Simrin Adams were the most dominating team on the sand courts in the Netherlands. They won all three of their matches in the qualifiers in an emphatic manner, without losing a single set. For 16-year-old Adams and 17-year-old Castillo, the day started with a 2-0 (21-5, 21-5) landslide against Hong Ting NG & Meyan Wong of Hong Kong. The second match seemed the most difficult for the young American hopefuls, but they still came out with a convincing 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) victory over Poland’s Zuzanna Legien & Aleksandra Wolny, seeded second in the qualification bracket. Castillo & Adams continued their domination in the deciding third round of qualifiers and hammered out a speedy 2-0 (21-7, 21-8) shutout of Turkiye’s Irem Yener & Alisa Solak, emerging as the first team with a ticket from the qualifiers to the main draw.

Yener/Alisa Solak (TUR) vs Castillo/Adams (USA) - Round 3 #112543402

Castillo & Adams celebrate their qualification to the main draw in the Hague

“Coming into the qualifier, we knew that if we didn’t try our hardest, it could be the end for us, and there’s so much more of this tournament to play,” Simrin Adams told FIVB. “So, we just had the mindset of trying our best no matter what, cheering each other on, taking one point at a time, and not worrying about the outcome – just having fun. So, I think that helped us get through.”

“Going along with her, I think we just really had the tough mindset of knowing that we have to try our best, and I think we did a really good job getting used to all the differences here. And we just pushed through, and we did really good,” Sienna Castillo added.

Clara /Luisa (BRA) vs. Hägglund/Mtabingwa Demilo (SWE) - Round 3 #112546733

Brazil’s Clara & Luisa in action on the way to the main draw in the Hague

Brazil’s Clara Vieira Lawrenz & Luisa Ianegitz were the other team that qualified for the main draw without any byes and without any sets lost in the three rounds of qualifiers. In the first round, the South American duo achieved a 2-0 (21-15, 22-20) win over Sinemis Aslan & Uxue Cuadrado of Spain. In the second, Clara & Luisa put together a 2-0 (21-18, 21-12) victory over Slovakia’s Hana Graffingerova & Lana Mackovich, before mastering a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) sweep of their third-round encounter with Sweden’s Lova Hagglund & Irma Mtabingwa Demilo.

Paula Krieva & Estere Zakite and Mariia Shkurat & Marharyta Vapniar both started their campaigns straight from the second round of qualifications. The Latvian team took out Czechia’s Ema Sebova & Lea Mifkova in straight sets, 2-0 (21-18, 21-16), and then did so with their qualification decider against Austria’s Helena Ferstl-Schmid & Emily Grusch, 2-0 (21-14, 21-15).

Ferstl-Schmid/Grusch (AUT) vs Krieva P./Zakite (LAT) - Round 3 #112545421

Latvia in attack against Austria

The Ukrainian pair also started with a straight-set win, 2-0 (21-15, 21-17) against Norway’s Johanna Krane & Sina Straumstoyl, but in their crucial encounter with Estonia’s Keira Lukas & Susanna Rikand, Shkurat & Vapniar had to come back from a set down to eventually celebrate a 2-1 (15-21, 21-14, 15-8) victory and a spot in the pool stage of the main draw.