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Okutoyi becomes first Kenya to lift Africa Junior Tennis Championship
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 27.11.21. | 13:26
Okutoyi received a bye in the first round and went on to make her way to the final and beat Aya El Anouni
Teenage sensation Angella Okutoyi became the first Kenyan to lift the African Junior Championship after seeing off Moroccan Aya El Anouni 6-3, 6-3 in the singles final of the 2021 Africa Junior Under-18 Championships in Sousse, Tunisia on Friday.
Okutoyi edged out Tunisia's Meriem Ben Ezzedine, ranked 1,277, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round to book a quarter-final spot with Botswana's Ekua Youri having received a bye in the first round.
The Spain-based Youri brought her all to the game, giving the 17-year old Okutoyi a run for her money but the Kenyan managed to make it to the semifinal courtesy of the hard-fought 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
In the semifinal, Okutoyi bullied her way through the 15-year old Moroccan player Malak El Allami, ranked 482, 6-3, 6-2 to storm the final and book an encounter with Anouni.
Say hallo to the African Champion. It's gold for Kenya at the African Junior Championships 18 & Under in Sousse, Tunisia. Congratulations Angela Okutoyi.
— Tennis Kenya (@tennis_kenya) November 26, 2021
Let's paint the city. #KenyaMilele#wearemadeofmore@OlympicsKe@moscakenya@AMB_A_Mohammed@StateHouseKe pic.twitter.com/Jsnnclg63D
Okutoyi came into the final as the underdog compared to Anouni, with both their ranking and previous encounters being in favor of the Moroccan
While Okutoyi was seeded second and was placed 142 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Rankings before the final, Anouni had the top seed and a higher ranking of 126.
In February 2020, Anouni beat Okutoyi 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 during the JB2 Pretoria in South Africa, and the win in the Championship comes as a big plus for the Kenyan girl.
The championship win comes with 20o ITF points ranking and her coach Francis Rogoi is elated after the historic win.
“Big win for Okutoyi. This is the biggest and prestigious Africa Junior Championship. It has good points for ITF,” Rogoi is quoted by Daily Nation
Tennis Kenya would like to congratulate Angela Okutoyi for winning the Sports Personality of the month Award- January 2021. A well deserved win. @OlympicsKe@AMB_A_Mohammed@moscakenya@ITFTennis@cattennis@LGUS@OfficialSJAK pic.twitter.com/2BLiTo9GS9
— Tennis Kenya (@tennis_kenya) March 23, 2021
Okutoyi was crowned the LG Sports Personality of the Month of January 2021 by Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) following her exploits at the beginning of the year.
The 17-year old earned the award after winning two back-to-back ITF Junior J4 singles events in Nairobi in January. She won 6-3 6-2 against Celine Simunyu of Ireland and beat Hungary’s Luca Udvardy 6-1, 6-4 to move to a career-high ranking of 127 globally. She also won one doubles title and took second place in another partnering with Iran’s Meshkatolzahra Safi.
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