African Games singles champion Angela Okutoyi will play in six ITF tournaments in the next two months as she chases a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Okutoyi targets ranking points as she seeks to scale up into the top 400 by the close of the qualification window on June 10. She is ranked 532.
Tennis Kenya Executive Officer Nancy Nduku said the tournaments will be played in April and May.
If she qualifies for Paris, Okutoyi will become the first Kenya tennis player at the Olympics.
“We are exploring all options. We want her to play in as many tournaments as possible. We believe she has a good chance of qualifying for Paris,” said Nduku.
Due to school commitments, Okutoyi, a student at Auburn University in the United States of America, has played in just 10 tournaments since July last year.
She has won two, at Monastir W15 last July and Nairobi W25 in December.
She has won 10 of her last 11 pro matches, following the Nairobi title with a semifinal finish at the Naples ITF W35 in January.
Okutoyi made history by winning the African Games singles title, the first for a Kenyan since the 1978 Games in Algiers.
She beat defeating Egyptian Lamis Elhussein 6-4 6-2.
She also partnered with Cynthia Cheruto to win the doubles silver medal, falling 6-4 10-7 6-3 to Egyptians Sandra Sameh Samir and Merna Mostafa Refaat.
The two-time Kenya Open champion believes there is still room for improvement.
“I have a couple of areas to work on,” said Okutoyi.
Meanwhile, 464 athletes will vie for over 150 quota places through the Olympic Qualifier Series, the International Olympic Committee announced on Wednesday.
As the ultimate qualification event to Paris for breaking, sport climbing, BMX freestyle and skateboarding, an equal number of male and female athletes, including 80 break-dancers, 96 boulder and lead climbers and 64 speed climbers, 48 BMX cyclists, 88 park and 88 street skateboarders, will compete in the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai on May 16-19 and Budapest on June 20-23.
81 Olympians, including 18 Olympic medalists from Tokyo 2020, are on the list, such as skateboarding street gold medallist Yuto Horigome of Japan and BMX freestyle gold medalist Logan Martin of Australia.
A total of 158 quota places for Paris 2024 will be allocated following the Series in accordance with the relevant qualification systems, with relative International Federations being responsible for determining the rules related to the points system of their sports.
BMX freestyle, sport climbing and breaking athletes will compete for up to 50 points at each of the two stops, adding up to a maximum possible total of 100 points per athlete.
The points system for skateboarding is divided into three parts: 1/3 of the points are allocated from previous competitions, and 1/3 of the points each are up for grabs in Shanghai and Budapest.
The final ranking of the combined points will determine the quota places, with 20 in breaking, 24 in boulder and lead and 14 in speed climbing, 12 in BMX freestyle, and 44 in park and 44 in street skating.
