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Okutoyi destroys defending champion to smell African Games gold

Kenya's Angella Okutoyi celebrates a point during her singles match against Lucie Nguyen Tan in the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour (W25) tournament at the Nairobi Club on December 22, 2023.

Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Geofrey Anene

By  Geoffrey Anene  &  Victor Otieno

What you need to know:

  • Fourth-seeded Okutoyi proved competitive against the top-seeded Sherif (70) in all the three sets
  • Okutoyi, 20, and Sherif, 27, were meeting in a competition for the first time ever
  • Okutoyi will meet sixth-seeded Egyptian Lamis Elhussein in the final


Kenya’s Angella Okutoyi has caused a major upset after outwitting 2019 African Games women singles champion Mayar Sherif 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in a grueling semi-final match which lasted four hours and 20 minutes at the Borteyman Sports Complex in Accra, Ghana on Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded Okutoyi (532 in the latest WTA singles rankings), who is Kenya’s first World Tennis Tour singles champion, proved competitive against the top-seeded Sherif (70) in all the three sets.
She led the first set 3-1 only to lose it 5-7, but never gave up the fight, proving she was equal to task after coming from 2-5 behind to clinch the second set 7-5.

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