Okutoyi saves Kenya the blushes by beating Morocco 2-1 in ITF Nairobi opener

Team Kenya started her campaign on a bright note yesterday with a deserved 2-1 aggregate win over highly ranked Morocco in the ITF-Billie Jean King Cup (Group 3) qualifiers played at Nairobi Club.

“The result is satisfactory and of course we will work on certain areas before facing our next opponents. However, getting that important win against a top-ranked side in this tournament is testament to us being serious with qualification to Group Two.  We had our intentions and plans clear straight from the word go and it is our mission to ensure that we reach our target at home. There are still a lot of tough matches on the way and so we have to prepare and be ready,” said Team Coach Francis Mwangi.

USA based Angela Okutoyi saved Kenya’s blushes following her 7-5/6-3 win over Moroccan opponent Mallak El Allami in the Pool A Women’s singles round one clash. This followed the opener that featured Kenya’s Alicia Owegi who went down 6-3/6-0 to Morocco’s Eya El Aouni. With that opening falter in front of the home crowd that included Cabinet Secretary of Sports and Arts Ababu Namwamba, Okutoyi was called upon to do justice to the hosts. Later on in the decider, Kenya’s duo of Angela Okutoyi and Cynthia Cheruto twice came from behind in in both sets to win the duel in scores of 6-4/7-5 against Yasmine Kabbaj and Aya El Aouni.

Okutoyi had to dig deep in the first set at one point down 2-4 to the fiery North African challenger. It was a big start for both as they both held serve for a 2-2 score. There were also nerves but ultimately the huge support behind the Kenyan player saw her through the line with some sublime tennis and great defense whenever called upon.

The decider contest attracted big interest because it would ultimately put Kenya in fine stead. Cheruto helped with lots of backtracking and covering the baseline as Okutoyi was in her usual attack mode from serve to returns. The opponents tried hard to have short balls near the net hence occasion a lot of running which the flexible and quick Kenyans duly adapted to. Kenya next faces Botswana in yet another tricky encounter

Morocco who are ranked 90th are the top listed country in the tournament that features 12 nations. Kenya who are second in the standings at close of business after winning two contests and losing once,have Nigeria for company at top with a 3-0 win success. The West Africans had a field day against the Ugandans who are bottom of the table after losing all matches on cards. Uganda faces an uphill task today against the pained Morocco who will want an immediate response from their disappointing first round loss.

In another Group A clash,the Botswana team got the better of their neighbors Namibia in a 2-1 result. Chelsea Chakanyuka and Cheludo Monayoo were behind the success for the diamond rich nation. In Pool B,Tunisia and Mauritius had unblemished starts with both earning comfortable 3-0 wins against Seychelles and Burundi respectively.