Boys’ quarterfinals take shape at Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games

Eight pairs will continue the race for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games boys’ beach volleyball title at the Saly Beach West following the conclusion of the Round of 16 on Monday.

Leading the pack in the quarterfinals set for Tuesday, are top seeds Lasse Hüper & Filo Wüst of Germany, who had to dig deep to edge out Ghana’s Justice Adusei Amoafo & Daniel Lartey by 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-10) in the Round of 16.

To qualify for the Round of 16, Amoafo & Lartey had beaten Morocco’s Yasser Errazi & Othmane Taghdouini in straight sets (21-13, 21-19) in the lucky losers’ round earlier on Monday but later fell short against the reigning World U18 champions.

Austria’s second seeds Paul Hohenauer & Martin Poinstingl also punched their ticket to the quarterfinals following a comfortable 2-0 (21-11, 21-11) win over Nicaragua’s Justin Alfredo Barrios Dinarte & Matthew Eberhard Kempf Palacio.

Barrios & Kempf had defeated Palau’s Linzy Moky Allen & Brendan Keane by 2-0 (21-11, 21-11) in the lucky losers’ round played in the morning to proceed to the Round of 16.

Chile’s Gael Arias Saldias & Francisco Farias Valdivia held their own to eliminate Souleymane Seck Ciss & Mouhamed Moustapha Sidibe of Senegal. The hosts, who enjoyed support from a sizable home crowd, lost by 0-2 (17-21, 20-22) to bow out of the competition.

Brazil’s Gabriel Campos & Bruno Fellipe Lobo Silva Souza stretched their winning streak to four matches after registering a 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) victory over Sierra Leone’s Sulaiman A. Bangura & Alie Kainesie in the Round of 16.

Fourth seeds Ludvig Sødal Ringøen & Liam Karlsen of Norway made it four wins in a row after sweeping aside Venezuela’s Santiago Leandro Camejo Guerra & Moises David Yepez Ramirez in straight sets (21-17, 21-11).

Australia’s Ryan Edgar & Thomas Turner dropped their first set of the competition against Mulapwa Sakeni Jonathan & Gloire Nzazi Mutendi of The Democratic Republic of Congo who put up a spirited fight that lasted 45 minutes before losing by 1-2 (16-21, 21-19, 13-15).

USA’s Caden Phillips & Gavin Mortensen took their win-loss record to 3-1 after defeating Türkiye’s Freddie Jude Foks & Polat Kemal Eser by 2-0 (21-16, 21-12).

In the last match of the day, Amirreza Jamshidi Khalkiasari & Amin Vakili emerged on the right end of a nervy 48-minute contest with Kazakhstan’s Alikhan Agabek & Orazali Sagynysh to run out 2-1 (19-21, 21-12, 15-13) winners and proceed to the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Tuesday followed by the bronze and gold medal matches on Wednesday.

Quarterfinals

Gael & Farias (CHI) vs Hohenauer & Poinstingl (AUT)

Edgar & Turner (AUS) vs Phillips & Mortensen (USA)

Gabriel & Bruno Fellipe (BRA) vs L. Ringøen & Karlsen (NOR)

Hüper & Wüst (GER) vs Jamshidi & Vakili (IRI)

Click here to visit the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Beach Volleyball event page.