NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 23 – Tennis star Angela Okutoyi has been shortlisted for the Sports Woman of the year award in this year’s Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA) slated for Kakamega County on January 19.
The gala which will be held in Western Kenya for the first time is sponsored by the County Government of Kakamega, Lotto Foundation, CPF Financial Services, NSSF and Safaricom.
The tennis prodigy, who won the International Tennis Federation (ITF)N World Tennis Tour juniors grade four championships singles, will, battle it out with Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon, Olympic Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, Vihiga Queens and Harambee Starlets star player Jentrix Shikangwa, motorsports’ Maxine Wahome and volleyball ace Sharon Chepchumba.
Okutoyi, a go-getter in junior tennis circles, Angela won the Grade 3 Doubles in Cairo, Egypt in August and reached the semifinals in the singles category.
Not to be outdone, she reached the semifinals of the same competition in October this year.
Currently, the 17-year-old is ranked third in the Confederation of African Tennis (CAT) and 155th in the world junior ranking.
In November, Okutoyi, a former Most Promising Girl SOYA winner, upset the applecart when she became the first Kenyan to win the 18 and under Africa junior championship title after vanquishing Morocco’s Aya El Aouni by straight sets of 6-3, 6-3.
For Maxine, the female rally driver, who made strides in her debut year as a rally driver, was being navigated by Linet Ayuko on the first season, won the All-Ladies crew trophy during the Mountain Gorilla Rally in Rwanda, a leg of the gruelling Africa Rally Championships where she was sixth overall.
She was seventh overall during the Ramisi Rally where she won the Division Two category and she was ranked 14th overall at the first East African Mini Classic.
-Jepchirchir-
On her part, Jepchirchir perhaps needs no introduction in Athletics, the country’s most popular sport after football, following her exploits over the long distance.
The undisputed World Half Marathon champion handed the country its second women’s Olympics marathon title at the Tokyo Summer Games, winning in a time of 2:27.20 seconds.
Further, the 28-year-old made her maiden appearance at the World Marathon Majors in New York on November 17, 2021, proving that the gold medal win in Tokyo was no fluke as she won the race ahead of compatriot Viola Lagat.
But perhaps unbeknown to many, just like many marathoners, she did not partake in many races apart from the Olympics and of course the New York Marathon later in the year.
Kipyegon successfully defended her Olympic gold medal with an Olympic record time of 3:53.11, dominated the Diamond League races and won the Kipchoge Keino Classic race.
-Shikangwa-
In women football, Kenya’s had its own wonder in the form of international Shikanga who plies her trade with Vihiga Queens in the national Premier League.
Shikangwa, who has an eye for goal, plundered seven goals in the inaugural 2021 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Champions League CECAFA qualifiers to inspire Vihiga Queens to qualify for the CAF Women’s Champions League after edging out Ethiopia’s CBE 2-1.
Just to prove that he was a rising star in the game in the country, Shikangwa netted a brace in the match and was voted the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Besides the feat, Shikangwa widened her scope outside Vihiga Queens when she netted four goals for the national women’s teams, Harambee Starlets, in their massive 15-1 aggregate win over South Sudan in the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations Qualifiers which ultimately saw Kenya proceed to the second round.
