Okutoyi storms African Games quarters

Kenyan tennis ace Angella Okutoyi (seed four) will on Tuesday renew rivalry with her long time friend Aya El Aouni (eighth seed) for a place in women’s singles semi-finals at the ongoing African Games in Accra, Ghana.

Okutoyi and Moroccan El Aouni, who have known each other for three years, marched on to the quarter-finals after they outclassed Egyptian Merna Mostafa Refaat (10) 6-2, 6-3 and Mari-Louise Van Zyl (South Africa) in round of 16 on Monday, respectively.

Auburn University student Okutoyi was stopped in round of 16 by Moroccan Salma Ziouti 6-4, 6-3 in the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco, meaning that she has already gone one better than four years ago.

However, the Kenya Open 2018 and 2022 champion Okutoyi has set a high target for herself this year which is a gold-medal finish in Accra. It means that she still has a long way to go.

In Accra, Kenya’s first World Tennis Tour singles champion Okutoyi earned a first round bye courtesy of her high WTA singles ranking where she sits at position 533 in the world.

She defeated Naomi Chileshe (Zambia) 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 32 on Sunday before going past Refaat.

“One match at a time. She (Okutoyi) played well against Merna with great precision with the wind. Tomorrow (today), she plays her long time friend Aya El Aouni,” noted Kenya women's tennis team coach Francis Rogoi. 

Okutoyi and El Aouni have met twice. The Kenyan lost 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 in the second round of JB2 Pretoria in South Africa in February 2020 before getting her revenge 6-3, 6-3 in JB2 Sousse in Tunisia where Okutoyi won the African Junior title.

The only Kenyans to have won medals at the African Games are Jane Davies-Doxzon (gold) and Susan Wakhungu (silver) in singles at the 1978 African Games in Algeria and Saeed Cockar and Yashvin Shretta (bronze) in men’s doubles in 1965 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. 

Okutoyi is the only Kenyan player surviving in singles in Accra after Stacy Yego, Melissa Mwakha, Cynthia Cheruto, Ismael Changawa, Ibrahim Kibet, Kevin Cheruiyot and Albert Njogu were eliminated early.

Yego suffered a 6-0, 6-0 second round loss at the hands of South African Zoe Kruger, while Cheruto and Zimbabwe-based Mwakha were knocked out in singles in the first round by Tsantaniony Iariniaina (Madagascar) 1-6, 6-1, 10-6 and Celestine Avome (Gabon) 6-2, 6-1.

All the male players from Kenya – Ismael Changawa, Albert Njogu, Kevin Cheruiyot and Australia-based Ibrahim Kibet – suffered third round exits.

Gold medal winners in men’s and women’s singles, who must also be top-400 in ATP and WTA rankings, qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to be held in France in July/August this year.

Also through to the semi-finals on Monday was Barakat Quadre (Nigeria) who saw off Celestine Avome 6-0, 6-0.

Meanwhile, Kenya on Monday thrashed top-ranked South Africa by 70 runs to keep alive their title hopes in men’s cricket at the 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana. 

Teenage sensation Aarnav Patel starred with five wickets for Kenya in the Group 'A' match played at Achimota Senior Secondary School A Field.

The coach Lameck Onyango’s side started the campaign on a disappointing note after they lost to Uganda by 72 runs on Sunday. 

Batting first after winning the toss against South Africa, Kenya set a target of 141 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs of their innings. 

Thanks to Kenya’s superb bowling and fielding, they restricted South Africa to 71 runs all-out in 15 overs of their innings.