KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s top waterski athlete, Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah, bounced back strongly by winning two silver medals at the Junior Moomba in Melbourne, Australia.
According to a media statement released by the Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF), the 15-year-old skier settled for silver in the tricks event and overall event at the Yarra River on Thursday.
She scored 7,230 points in the tricks event, behind world tricks champion, Neilly Ross of Canada, who raked in 8,790 points, while Chile's Josefa Gonzalez finished third with 4,880 points.
The second place finish also means Aaliyah equaled her efforts from 2014 and 2015 in the tricks event.
Meanwhile, in the overall event, Aaliyah scored a total of 2,668.74 points to win silver.
The gold medal for the overall event was won by Australia's world junior champion, Sade Ferguson with a total of 2,677.73 points, with fellow compatriot Layne Moroney (1,742.00) in third place.
“I am very happy that I am able to match the jump by world junior champion Sade in the overall as she is the favourite for the world junior title next year. That is the yardstick I am aiming for.
“Losing the gold to Sade by a mere few points shows that I am certainly able to challenge for the overall world junior title next year,” said Aaliyah, who is surely on track to challenge for a podium finish at the World Junior Championships in 2020.
Aaliyah will take a break in order to focus on her studies as she will sit for examinations in May, and she will return to intensive training after May to prepare for her next major event come August — the Waterski World Championships in Putrajaya.