Italy’s Coretti & Lafuenti clash with Dutch duo Both & de Groot in Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games girls’ final

It will be an all-European affair when Jara Both & Matilda de Groot of The Netherlands face off with Italy’s Margherita Coretti & Micol Lafuenti in the final of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games at the Saly Beach West on Wednesday.

Second seeds Both & de Groot were the first team to qualify for the final after defeating Chinese top seeds Ming Zhuang & Siyu Qi  in straight sets (23-21, 21-19) in the semifinals to stretch their perfect record to six matches.

It was the third match between the two teams this year after meeting twice at the FIVB U18 World Championships in The Hague where both pairs won a game each.

“China was a worthy opponent and made us fight so hard. We wanted to put them under pressure on the serve. It was part of our game plan and it worked. We are so excited to be in the final and hope to get the gold medal tomorrow,” said de Groot.

“We knew China was our biggest opponent. We played twice against them at the World Championships so we knew what to expect. We kept faith even when they made like three points in a row and we are really happy that we won today,” explained Both.

Earlier in the day, the Dutch pair had beaten Africa U18 champions Pamela Miyoum Bawa & Joy Lawrence of Nigeria by 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) in the quarterfinals. To qualify for the semifinals, Zhuang Ming & Qi S.Y. had swept aside Mexico’s Angela Perez Araujo & Celia Yazbeth López Higuera by 2-0 (21-12, 28-26).

Italy’s Coretti & Lafuenti dropped their first set of the tournament in a nervy semifinal clash against Switzerland’s Anja Gähwiler & Noemi Eugster. However, the Italian fourth seeds held their own in the tiebreak to emerge 2-1 (21-19, 13-21, 15-10) winners and retain their unbeaten record heading into the final.

In the quarterfinals played earlier on Tuesday, Coretti & Lafuenti had overcome Argentina’s Angeles Frascaroli & Garcia Curado Isabella in straight sets (21-19, 21-15) while Gähwiler & Eugster edged out Greece’s Angeliki Charissaki & Grigoria Anna Margaritopoulou by 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-10) to reach the semifinals.

“We made a lot of mistakes in the second set which allowed them to come back into the game. They really made things difficult in the third set but we kept pushing and I’m happy we have made it to the final. We have worked so hard to be here and we deserve it,” said Coretti.

“It was a very tight game and I’m happy that we are in the final. There were a lot of emotions in the second set which led to too many mistakes. In the third set, we were more composed and I’m happy that our families were here to experience these moments with us. You can see them crying more than us which shows how much it means to them,” added Lafuenti.

Wednesday’s action will start with the bronze medal match between Zhuang Ming & Qi S.Y. and Gähwiler & Eugster at 11:00 local time/GMT followed by the gold medal match at 14:00 local time/GMT.

Gold medal match

Both & de Groot (NED) vs Coretti & Lafuenti (ITA)

Bronze medal match

Zhuang Ming & Qi S.Y. (CHN) vs Gähwiler & Eugster (SUI)

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