Kenyan tennis rising star Angela Okutoyi became the first athlete to win three SJAK sports personality of the month award,
On the path to achieving greatness at a young age, Okutoyi thanked her coach and Tennis Federation of Kenya for being monumental in her tennis career, “I thank God, my coach and the federation for always helping and supporting me, in Wimbledon they gave encouraged me and gave me hope that I would still clinch the doubles”
Kenya Tennis rising star Angella Okutoyi is the LG/SJAK Sports Personality of the month of July.
Eighteen year-old Okutoyi achieved the feat for becoming the first ever Kenyan Grand Slam
winner when she won the Wimbledon Open Doubles Junior Championship on July 9 in England.
Okutoyi and her partner Rose Marie Nijkamp from the Netherlands vanquished Canadian duo
of Kayla Cross and Victoria Mboko 2-1 (3-6, 6-4, 11-9) in the Junior doubles ' final on the grass
courts of All England Lawn Tennis Club.
She became the first sportsperson to win the LG Sports sponsored award twice this year and
three times overall since the inception of the award, following her success in January when she
reached the third round at the Australian Open Juniors thus becoming the first Kenyan to win a
girls’ junior singles Grand Slam match and another award held in January 2021.
Her Wimbledon triumph was a brilliant display of mental strength since she had exited the
Singles category at the Junior Championships at Wimbledon in the first round. However she
picked herself up to claim the doubles title alongside her Dutch teammate Nijkamp.
Okutoyi and Nijkamp stunned third-seeds Lucija Ciric Bagaric (Croatia)/Nikola Daubnerova
(Slovakia) 2-0 (6-3, 6-4) in the semi-finals and started the final on wrong-footing as they lost the
first set 6-3. However, they recovered in the second set, winning it 6-4 and never looked back.
They wrapped up the famous win with an 11-9 victory in the tiebreaker against the fourth-
seeded Canadians.
To win the monthly trophy, Okutoyi beat several other nominees including Africa 100m
champion Ferdinand Omanyala who was eliminated in the semis of the World Championships in
Oregon, Faith Kipyegon who reclaimed her world 1,500m title in Oregon and Emmanuel Korir
who added the world 800m title to his Olympic title over the same distance.
Other nominees were rugby star Dennis Abukuse -instrumental in Menengai Oilers' inaugural
National Sevens Circuit victory, Helen Wawira who bagged gold at the 2022 World Para
Powerlifting American Open Championship and Winnie Kaburo Muthoni who won the Africa
Youth Chess Championship under-8 title in Lusaka, Zambia.
In winning the July award, Okutoyi received a trophy engraved to her name and an LG Nanocell
TV worth 120k.
Okutoyi was all smiles and here is what she had to say: "I am truly honored to win this award
for the second time in a year and I wish to thank my partnerNijkamp for her resilience through
our campaign."
"Being nominated alongside Kenya's long and middle distance runners and beating them is no
mean achievement. A grand slam win has always been my dream, Now it's no longer a dream
but a reality ,” said the emotional Angela.
Other LG awards winners this year include junior WRC3 contender McRae Kimathi (February),
Japan’s Nagoya Marathon winner Ruth Chepng’etich (March), Boston Marathon men’s winner
Evans Chebet (April), national women's volleyball team star Sharon Chepchumba (May) and
WRC3 Safari Rally winner Maxine Wahome (June).
During the function, SJAK President Chris Mbaisi thanked LG Electronics for their continued
support towards development of sport in the country by whipping up the enthusiasm of Kenyan
athletes across the board.
LG Electronics Marketing Director Changhyun Kim congratulated Okutoyi for her fairy tale feat
saying "she is an inspiration to countless other sports personalities hoping to make it big at
international level.
“As a brand, LG will endeavour to encourage our sports men and women through these awards
to raise the bar higher as a way of recognizing their dedicated efforts in the lucrative industry.
It is that extra effort that has seen Okutoyi join the growing list of junior international tennis
stars,” Kim underscored.
Kelly Ayodi
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