Brothers at ‘war’
Aiden and Adam renew rivalry at KL SEA Games
THERE will be a bit of healthy sibling rivalry between the Yoong Hanifah brothers at next month’s Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
Aiden, 11, and nine-year-old Adam will be out to outdo each other for the gold in the men’s tricks.
For 2015 Singapore Games bronze medallist Aiden, he has a personal score to settle with Adam.
Aiden, who has a personal best of 3,780 points, was tipped to smash his elder brother Alex’s 24-year-old national record of 3,830 points since he took up the sport.
But it was Adam who upstaged him by setting a national record of 3,920 point en route to winning the Under-13 title at the Florida Inboards Open in the United States in May.
Adam went on to improve the national mark a week later as he scored 4,040 points at the Sunset Lakes Cup Masters LCQ in Florida.
“I definitely want to do better than Adam this time. He’s been putting a lot of pressure on me,” said Aiden.
“It’s good that he’s pushing me hard. We can improve faster this way. But I know I’m the better skier. I’m also well prepared for these Games. And I’ve been getting more points during training.”
Adam, who only competed in the wakeboard at the Singapore Games, agreed that Aiden is technically a much better water skier.
“This is the first time I’m competing in water ski at the Games. I’m focused to put up a good show. The pressure is on Aiden as he is the one who is targeted to win at least a silver or a bronze,” said Adam.
Both Aiden and Adam stand a good chance of winning a gold as their personal bests are not far off from Indonesian Febrianto Kadir’s gold-medal winning score of 4,280 points in Singapore.
Malaysia’s best bet for gold, however, lies on the shoulders of their 14-year-old sister Aaliyah.
Aaliyah, who will be making her third Games appearance, is good for at least two golds – the tricks and overall. She is also a strong contender for the slalom and jump golds.
The three Yoong Hanifah siblings will join the rest of the national water ski and wakeboard squad to compete in their final tuneup – a pre-Games event – at the Water Sport Complex in Precinct 6, Putrajaya, from July 29-30.