KUALA LUMPUR: Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah produced her best-ever performance at the World Waterski Championships in Recetto, Italy, on Sunday, finishing sixth in the women’s jump final and seventh overall.
Her results marked the highest placing by a Malaysian and an Asian woman in both jump and overall at the world meet.
The 22-year-old is also the first Asian woman to break into the top 10 across the jump, tricks, and overall disciplines at the championships.
The Florida-based psychology student amassed 2,343.91 points from slalom, tricks, and jump, outshining 20 other competitors in the women’s open category.
She also set a new national record in jump with a leap of 51.0m, surpassing her previous best of 49.5m.
In tricks, she finished 10th with 7,490 points.
American Hanna Straltsova, a 10-time world champion, claimed the jump title with a distance of 56.8m.
Aaliyah, Asia’s number 1 waterskier, said she was elated with her career-best finish.
“The World Championships have been a joyful adventure for me,” she said.
“To finish sixth in jump and seventh overall is an incredible personal achievement. My goal was to reach the finals in jump and tricks and make the top 10 — I am very excited to have achieved that.”
Her father and coach, Hanifah Yoong, believes the breakthrough jump distance could reshape her career.
“Reaching past the 50m milestone is significant. We thought hitting 49.5m would already be a good job,” he said.
“Now, she’s looking more like a jump champion than a tricks champion. I expect her to be near the top three in jump and overall within 6 years, possibly at the 2031 World Championships when she’ll still be just 28.”
It has been a landmark season for Aaliyah, who dominated the Asian circuit and showed consistency against the world’s best, including Straltsova, Canadians Neilly Ross, Paige Rini and Jaimee Bull, American Regina Jacquess and Germany’s Giannina Mechler.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
