ESSEN, Germany – Auburn senior Angella Okutoyi earned a silver medal in mixed doubles on Friday at the 2025 FISU World University Games, hosted by the International University Sports Federation in Essen, Germany. Okutoyi also claimed the women's tennis team bronze medal for Kenya.
Okutoyi finished as runner-up in the event representing her home country of Kenya alongside partner Kael Shah, a senior at Denison University. In addition to her strong finish in mixed doubles, Okutoyi also advanced to the round of 16 in women’s singles.
“This is my first time playing in an international mixed tournament,” said Okutoyi. “We played well. Even though there were ups and downs, we kept on motivating each other and fighting for each and every point. I like playing for my country. We have good African tennis players out there, and I like to inspire the young kids that you can do whatever you put your mind to and whatever you love.”
𝓢𝓲𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓜𝓮𝓭𝓪𝓵 🥈@Okutoyiangella2 takes home the silver medal in mixed doubles at the @FISU World University Games! 🌎#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/QJAnipVe4l
— Auburn Women's Tennis (@AuburnWTennis) July 25, 2025
The Kenyan duo began their run with back-to-back straight-set victories over Yekaterina Dmitrichenko and Iliyas Maratuly of Kazakhstan, and Alice Robbe and William Jucha of France. In Wednesday’s quarterfinal round, Okutoyi and Shah bounced back from a 6-1 loss in the opening set to win the second set 6-1 against Australia’s Catherine Aulia and Jeremy Jin, forcing a 10-point tiebreak. The pair then won the tiebreak 10-5 to advance to the semifinals.
In Thursday’s semifinal match against Maria Garcia and Pedro Araujo of Portugal, the Kenyan pair dominated on serve, winning 67 of 90 service points to take the match 7-6 (6), 6-3 and earn a place in the final. Okutoyi and Shah fell in straight sets to Japan’s Natsuki Yoshimoto and Jay Friend in Friday’s championship match.
Okutoyi and Shah, both from Nairobi, delivered Kenya its second silver of the World University Games while Okutoyi delivered the nation its first bronze individually. As the only Kenyan women's tennis player participating, Okutoyi's perfomance in womens' singles and mixed doubles was enough to claim the women's tennis team bronze medal.
Individually, Okutoyi also reached the round of 16 in women’s singles. The 2025 All-SEC selection defeated Lidia Podgorichana of Thailand 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 64, then beat Australia’s Catherine Aulia 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 32. Her singles run ended with a loss to India’s Vaishnavi Adkar on Monday.
The World University Games began in 1923 in Paris and were held in Europe every two years until 1939. Since 1959, the multi-sport event has taken place every two years, featuring both summer and winter editions. In 2020, the Games were renamed the FISU World University Games, and they have grown to become the most prestigious competition in international university sport.
Roughly 8,500 student-athletes competed for medals across 18 sports at the FISU Summer World University Games, making it one of the largest multi-sport events in the world. More than 150 countries have been represented in the Olympics-style competition across 12 days of action.