Aaliyah breaks own Asian tricks record en route to victory Down Under
KUALA LUMPUR: National waterskiing ace Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah ended the season in style when she broke her own Asian tricks record en route to winning the event in the Oceania Championships 2022 at the Max Kirwan Ski Park Mulwala in New South Wales, Australia over the weekend.
The Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWFF) said in a statement that the 19-year-old scored 7,970 points in women’s open tricks to improve on her previous Asian mark of 7,960 points set at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, United States on July 16.
Her achievement in Alabama saw her create history by becoming the first Malaysian waterskier to clinch a medal at the World Games.
Aaliyah went on to match her personal best of 4.5/55kmh/12m in the first round of the slalom event in New South Wales, but could only manage 3/55kmh/12m to finish third in the final round behind New Zealand’s Meg Harraway and Australia’s Casey Wooderson.
In the jump event final, Aaliyah could only manage 34.3m to finish fifth despite a strong tailwind and having led the pack with a strong 41.3m effort in the first round.
“I am very satisfied with my performances as I had done my best in tricks and slalom while coming close to my best in the jump event.
“These results bode well for me to maintain my world rankings next year, which will be crucial for my seedings in future IWWF (International Waterski Wakeboard Federation) world ranking tournaments,” said Aaliyah, who will be aiming for a podium finish in the IWWF Under-21 Waterski World Championships in Mexico next June.
Meanwhile, her younger brother Aiden was eliminated in the first round of the tricks event when his ski broke.