Nigeria’s Pamela Miyoum Bawa and Joy Lawrence have advanced to the women’s beach volleyball quarter-finals at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games after defeating Thailand in straight sets on Monday, Bold sports reports.
The Nigerian pair beat Ainthira Ninsonthi and Phatthanan Wongnongwaeng 21–16, 21–13 in their round-of-16 encounter, securing a 2–0 victory and extending their campaign into the last eight.
Bawa and Lawrence took the opening set by five points before winning the second by eight, completing the knockout victory without needing a deciding set.
The result represents an important step forward after a demanding preliminary campaign in which Nigeria recorded one victory and two defeats.
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Their tournament began with a three-set loss to Japan’s Auru Kato and Mei Nakagawa. Nigeria recovered from losing the opening set 22–20 to win the second 21–11, but Japan took the decider 15–12.
Bawa and Lawrence responded by defeating Egypt’s Karma Badawy and Marwa Mamdouh Salem Saleh 21–19, 21–11, registering their first victory of the competition.
A subsequent 21–15, 21–16 defeat to Italy’s Margherita Coretti and Micol Lafuenti left Nigeria with a losing match record, but the pair nevertheless finished second in Pool D and qualified directly for the knockout stage.
They have now converted that opportunity into a quarter-final place.
Monday’s victory was Nigeria’s second straight-set win of the tournament, following their success against Egypt. It also provided an immediate response to the defeat against Italy in their final group fixture.
With the preliminary stage behind them, Bawa and Lawrence remain in contention as the competition moves towards its decisive rounds.
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