MALAYSIAN teen Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah made history by becoming the first Asian waterskier to win a Moomba Masters title in 60 years.
The 16-year-old won her first-ever top-of-podium spot in the junior girls tricks of the famous pro waterski event, after having mounted the podium twice, in second and third placing, in past years.
She scored 6,900 points, finishing on top of the leaderboard with Australian duo Sade Ferguson (5,770) and Tayla Simmonds (5,710) in second and third place, respectively.
It is a first-ever winner’s trophy for Aaliyah since making her debut in the Moomba in 2013 when she was nine years old.
In jump, Aaliyah also bagged a first-ever trophy after she came in second with an effort of 36.5m to finish second.
Ferguson eventually won the event with a score of 40.1m, while American Alyssa Drake came in third with 33.3m.
Aaliyah also finished strongly in slalom, placing fifth with a run of 1.5/55/12 despite being seeded eighth.
Aaliyah flanked by Sade (left) and Tayla after receiving their prizes in Melbourne last weekend.
Those three events combined gave her a total of 2,716.25 for a second-place finish in the overall event, just behind Ferguson who tallied 2,836.23 while Australia’s Layne Moroney came in third with 1,948.51.
It was certainly mission accomplished for Aaliyah despite the inclement weather as she improved on her two silver trophies from 2019.
“I’m thrilled to have finished with one win and two seconds and I’m definitely looking forward to the open category which continues this weekend through to Monday,” said Aaliyah.
Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) head coach Hanifah Yoong was also pleased with Aaliyah’s achievements.
“She managed to achieve all her objectives.
“It’s a first top of the podium for her here and a first jump trophy while also taking her second overall trophy by coming in second.
“On top of that, she will also move up the overall ranking and this will also ensure she will start in series 1 in the August 2020 Junior World Championship in Florida for all disciplines,” said Hanifah.
