The Dutch pairing of Jara Both, a semifinalist of the 2025 edition of the U18 World Championship, with Matilda de Groot, both 16 years old, stormed Pool A with two straight-set wins. First, they hammered out a 2-0 (21-9, 21-19) shutout of Poland’s Zuzanna Legien & Aleksandra Wolny, and then, they followed up with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Chile’s Josefa Dawson & Valentina Vasquez.
Seeded on top of the women’s bracket, enjoying the support of the home crowd in the stands, and especially after this solid start, are they already starting to feel they are the favorites to win this competition?
“Well, not really favorites, but I think it does give us confidence,” Matilda de Groot told the FIVB. “I do think we definitely have a chance of getting far in the tournament, but I wouldn’t say we are going to win the whole thing…”
“… but maybe we are, maybe we are” Jara Both jumped in. “If we keep fighting every point as we did today, because we had a tough start, then we will go far in the tournament I believe. We are really happy with the energy of the audience, because it’s also our family and friends, so let’s keep going!”
China’s Qi Siyu & Zhuang Ming also achieved two straight-set victories over the Chilean and the Polish opponents in that pool and guaranteed themselves advancement to the knockout rounds. On Friday, Both & De Groot and Qi & Zhuang will lock horns for the first place in the pool and direct passage to the eighthfinals.
