Two more events for aaliyah to make a splash after rough start at Moomba Masters
PETALING JAYA: It wasn’t the ideal start for Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah at the Moomba Masters but the young waterskier still has two events to give it her best shot.
It was rough waters for the 20-yearold at her 11th appearance in the competition as she failed to make it into the slalom finals at the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia.
Aaliyah had a slow start after scoring 3/55/13 to settle for 14th spot, with only the top eight advancing to the finals on Monday.
Aaliyah, currently studying at the Florida Southern University, came into the competition with inadequate training due to her exams in the last few months.
“I can’t say that I’m disappointed
that I missed getting into the slalom final as I have been having problems with my slalom training recently.
“Somehow things weren’t going well just now and therefore I didn’t have high hopes for a good result,” she said.
Her previous best score came at the 2023 Malaysia Ski and Wake Championships in Putrajaya where she scored 4.5/55/12 in the slalom course.
Aaliyah will still have the chance to rake in some ranking points if she can improve on her slalom course during the challenge round today.
She will be giving it a go in the tricks and jump events as well, and Aaliyah is feeling better about the categories compared to her slalom run.
“In any case, my specialty events are the tricks and jump. Let’s hope I get into the finals, at least for the tricks or jump,” she said.
Aaliyah, who is also the Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) appointed coach for her younger brothers Aiden and Adam, will compete in the jump and tricks event today and again at the finals on Monday if she qualifies.
Aiden, 18, and Adam, 16, both competed at the Junior Moomba event and finished sixth and 10th respectively in the tricks category.