U-18 beach volleyball: DRC expected in Doha for the World Championships

Kinshasa, October 6^th, 2025 (CPA).- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) boys’ and girls’ under-18 (U-18) beach volleyball teams are expected in Doha, the capital of Qatar, from October 7^th to 11^th to take part in the World Championships, the CPA learned on Monday from the Congo Volleyball Federation.   « The DRC’s under-18 (U-18) boys’ and girls’ national beach volleyball teams left the country on Monday  October 6^th,  bound for the city of Doha, Qatar, where they are expected to take part in the World Championships from October 7^th  to 11^th , » said Dieudonné Mukendi, communications officer for the Congo Volleyball Federation (Fevoco).

« The Leopards of the DRC travelled with a delegation of eight people, including four athletes (one men’s pair and one women’s pair), one delegation leader, one representative of the Provincial League and two coaches, » he said. He added, ‘The four athletes selected, comprising two pairs, one male and one female, are Jonathan Mulapwa and Gloire Mutendi, and Kerene Matatanu and Honorine Ekete.’ As a reminder, the DRC secured its qualification for this Beach Volleyball World Championship after its strong performance in the qualifiers held from 2 to 7 September in Banjul, Gambia, where the women finished on the podium and the men in 6th place.

The competition format

According to the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) website, the Beach Volleyball World Championships will begin with a one-day knockout qualifying tournament, with a maximum of 24 teams per version. According to the source, at the end of this qualifying phase, the eight finalist teams and the eight teams ranked third in the groups will qualify for a round of 16 to determine the eight teams that will advance to the quarter-finals. After the round of 16, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will follow, before the third-place play-off, reserved for the semi-final losers. For more details, a total of 55 countries will take part in this global beach volleyball event, scheduled for October 7^th -11^th, 2025 in Doha, Qatar.