Okutoyi downs sister Asumwa to lift 2022 Rwanda Open title

Kenya’s trailblazing tennis ace Angella Okutoyi took her fight for silverware right to her family’s doorstep as she defeated her twin sister Roselida Asumwa 6-1, 6-2 to emerge as the 2022 Rwanda Open champion following the women’s singles finale played on Sunday morning at the Ecology Tennis Club in Kigali.

In match that saw the two players fight for the family’s supremacy battle on top of the 2500 US Dollars that was on offer, it is the first seeded Okutoyi who got the bragging rights following the straight set victory over Asumwa who had been handed the second seed in the week long clay court event.

“It was a nice tournament and I am glad and feel good that I won but feel the sad for her. It is always a pleasure to play with my sister because we bring the best out of each other. The last time we played in a final against each other was I think when we were 14 so it was a long time ago. Overall, I was really impressed with the level in this tournament and I hope Rwanda can continue to stage these events,” Okutoyi said after her victory.

Prior to the championship decider, the two 18-year-olds, christened the Kenyan Williams sisters after Serena and Venus, had managed to overcome every challenge presented to them on the clay court event as they lived up to their favourite tag in the competition.

To advance to the final, Okutoyi, who back in July this year became the first Kenyan player to ever win a Grand Slam title when she lifted the 2022 Wimbledon Girls Doubles title alongside her Dutch partner Rose Marie Nijkamp, breezed through the knockout stages without dropping a set.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Okutoyi, who was the first seed in the event, proved too much to handle for home girl Belyse Irakoze whom she dispatched 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.

The former African Junior Champion also thumped Democratic Republic of Congo’s Nancy Aliyson Onya – the 2016 Rwanda Open winner – 6-1, 6-0 where she set up a semis tie against compatriot Cynthia Cheruto who was also unlucky to join the losers list after Okutoyi won 6-2, 6-1 to secure the championship decider.

Same as her younger sister, Asumwa, seeded second in the event and who did not drop a set in her path to the final, defeated Rwanda’s Gisele Umumarungu 6-2, 6-4 in the second round after getting a bye in the first.

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Consecutive wins against Tanzania’s Martin Mao (7-5, 6-4) and Rwanda’s Olive Tuyisenge (7-6, 6-4) would ensure that Asumwa locked her place in the final against her sister.