Angella Okutoyi conquers defending champion Maya Sheriff to qualify for her 1st African Games final

Kenya’s Angella Okutoyi has caused a major upset after outwitting 2019 African Games women singles champion Mayar Sherrif 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.

The Kenya’s top-ranked tennis star, who is seeded fourth with 532 points in the last WTA singles ranking, survived the first set scare (5-7) against the world no. 70 before turning the tables to clinch the other two sets in 7-5 and 7-6.

She will face another Egyptian, Lamis Elhussein Abdelaziz in the final on Thursday.

Okutoyi started the first set well but stumbled losing it 5-7 despite leading it to 3-1 in early stages. She then come up from 2-5 behind to dominate the second set winning it 7-5.

Having earned a first-round bye, Okutoyi powered through the competition, toppling Zambia’s Naomi Chileshe (6-6, 3-1) and Egypt’s Mostafa Rafaat (6-6, 3-3) in the next two rounds.

She beat Morocco’s Aya Elaouni 6-6, 4-4 to set up her place in the semi-finals.

But the action doesn’t end there. The 20-year-old dynamo will also dazzle in the doubles semi-finals alongside Cynthia Cheruto, taking on the formidable Egyptian duo of Sherif and Lamis Elhussein later on Wednesday.

The pair saw off Sierra Leone’s Sandy Sierra and Elena Asgill-Whalley 6-2, 2-6, 12-10 in the quarter-finals.

Okutoyi was the first Kenyan to win a Grand Slam title at the girls’ juniors Wimbledon, England, event partnering Rose Marie (Netherlands).

The duo beat Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko of Canada 3-6, 6-4.

She was also the first Kenyan representative to win a girls’ junior single Grand Slam match at the 2022 Australian Open.