Waterskier Aaliyah sweeps all four events in Putrajaya

PETALING JAYA: National waterskiing ace Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah (pic) wrapped up the Malaysia Ski and Wake Championship in Putrajaya with a dominant performance yesterday.

The 22-year-old showcased her skill as she swept all four events in the women’s category, winning the slalom, tricks, jump, and overall, just as she did in the previous editions.

Ranked world No. 7 in her favourite jump event, Aaliyah cleared a distance of 42.6m and scored 7,320 points in tricks, with only challenger Ni Ika Dewi Ambarawati of Indonesia taking silver in all the events.

Aaliyah will be heading to Recetto, Italy, next week to compete in the IWWF World Open Water Ski Championships and is looking forward to the challenge there.

“It’s been a fun and exciting adventure for me this championship,” said Aaliyah.

“I was involved in a one-on-one challenge with Ika. Everything that I did was to prepare for Italy.

“It’s going to be very competitive at the world level. Overall, I am happy with my performance here as I felt it was slightly above average.”

Aaliyah had recently won four gold medals and broke the Asian jump record three times at the Asian Championships held at Rabbit Lake in Bangkok in June.

Meanwhile, Aaliyah’s siblings Aiden won two gold medals while Adam won one silver and a bronze.

Aiden won gold in slalom and tricks, setting a new national record of 6,830 points in tricks. Indonesia’s Dimas Ridho Suprihono claimed silver with a score of 4,920 points, while Adam took bronze with 4,590 points.

Indonesia’s Mohd Zahidi Putu took gold in the men’s jump final, going the distance of 39.9m while Aiden’s best was 32.3m, and Adam jumped 28.6m.

Young talent Aydan Saisi, 13, stole the spotlight as the youngest participant and the only Malaysian in the Under-14 wakeboard final and won gold with 20 points, outdoing five other Indonesians.

The youngest of five siblings, Aydan trains with 13-time world champion Julia Rick in Cambodia and won the same event at the Asian Championships in Bangkok.