The Gambia stuns USA as nine girls’ duos qualify for elimination round 

The Gambia’s Bakari Ensa Kanyi & Abdallah Bah produced the biggest upset yet of the ongoing FIVB Beach Volleyball Under 18 World Championship in Doha, Qatar after defeating USA’s 2-1 Spencer Smith & Cash Essert by 2-1 (22-20, 14-21, 15-12) in their opening Pool F match on Wednesday.

A total of 48 matches were played at the Al Gharafa courts on Wednesday as the Main Draw of the competition got underway with all the 32 boys and 32 girls teams playing at least one match.

In the highlight of the day, the African U18 champions Bakari & Bah started brightly by edging out USA 22-20 in the first set but USA recovered to win the second set 21-14 and force the tie-breaker. However, The Gambia extinguished hopes of a USA comeback with a calm display in the tie-breaker which they won 15-12 to start their campaign on a high.

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“I did not expect them to serve to me but I’m happy that I adjusted quickly by attacking well. USA is a big team and beating them is a big statement from Africa. We are here to represent Africa, not just the Gambia. We hope they can continue supporting us, hopefully we will bring something to Africa,” said Bakari.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game but we were confident before entering the court. This is a big motivation for us because the first match is always tricky. Our target is to win the trophy or at least reach the podium,” added Bah.

Bakari & Bah will be back in action on Thursday when they will face off with Chile’s José Tomas Brain Zirpel & George Hargreaves Arentsen and Paraguay’s Hugo Felix Benitez Vazquez & Matias Gabriel Yegros Gomez with a view of topping the group and earning a direct ticket to the Round of 16.

In other boys’ matches played on Wednesday, another African duo, Mulapwa Sakeni Jonathan & Mutendi Nzazi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, stunned Sven van Groenestein & Mees Huisman of The Netherlands in straight sets (21-19, 21-13) to take control of Pool G. Fourteen other teams won their opening matches and will look to seal a place in the elimination round as the Main Draw concludes on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the two USA girls' duos of Avery Junk & Addison Junk and Jordyn Scribner & Ella Grimes booked an early ticket to the elimination round after winning their first two matches of the pool phase.

The Junk sisters beat Brazil’s Kiara Vitoria Ernesto Jeronimo & Leticia Schwalb Machado by 2-0 (21-15, 21-09) in the first match of the day before easing past Paraguay’s Sofia Martinez & Agustina Velazquez in straight sets (21-12, 21-13) to reach the knockout phase with a match to spare. They will complete their Pool B action against the winless Moroccan pair of Marwa Chalhaoui & Hafsa Bouysfi on Thursday.

On the other hand, Scribner & Grimes begun their Pool A campaign with a 2-0 (21-07, 21-02) sweep of Qatar’s Penda Fatima Gadiaga & Meriem Mouhoub and followed it up with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-17) rout of Mexico’s Angela Perez Araujo & Melina Román Hernández. Victory over Malaysia’s Mohammad Noor Aizuddin Nur Azwa Qariesya & Goh Yu Heng on Thursday will earn them top spot in the group and a Round 16 slot.

FIVB Beach Volleyball U18 World Championship: Match Schedule and Results

The other seven teams that won two matches to confirm their place in the elimination round were Switzerland’s Anja Gähwiler & Noemi Eugster in Pool E, Belgium’s Lente Thant & Simone Vervloet and Austria’s Anna Hammarberg & Anja Hofstetter in Pool F, Italy’s Sofia Bruzzone & Micol Lafuenti in Pool D, The Netherlands’ Esmee Radstake & Jara Both in Pool C, Brazil’s Isabela Sallaberry Cavalcanti & Ana Beatriz Sanches Francelino in Pool G, and Canada’s Ruby Cochrane & Sophie Hancock in Pool H.

The Main Draw will conclude on Thursday with the 32 teams in each gender all in action. The top three teams in each of the eight pools advance to the elimination rounds – the eight pool winners go directly to the Round of 16, while the teams that finished second and third play in the Round of 24. Both rounds will be held on Thursday, with the quarterfinals and semifinals following on Friday and the medal matches concluding the event on Saturday.

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