[VIDEO] 18-Year-Old Aaliyah Wins Women's Open Gold In Moomba Masters 2022 In Melbourne
The veteran also broke the national record twice in two days with jumps of 39.5m and 41.4m during the competition.
By May Vin Ang — 16 Mar 2022, 01:22 PM
Malaysian waterskiing prodigy Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah reigned supreme at the Moomba Masters Championships 2022 after finishing with a total of four golds and two bronze medals on Monday, 14 March
According to Bernama, she won one gold and one bronze in the women's open category at the waterskiing and wakeboarding competition held in Melbourne, Australia this week.
This comes after already bagging three golds and one bronze in the junior category a few days before on 10 March.
On Monday, the 18-year-old captured the women's open overall gold medal after accumulating a total of 2,668.52 points
She came ahead of Chile's Valentina Gonzalez (2,323.40 points) and New Zealand's Willian Courtney (2,082.85 points), who took silver and bronze, respectively.
Then, contributing to the overall win was her impressive performance in the tricks event that earned her the bronze medal.
The third placing was her first ever Moomba Masters women's open podium finish.
However, she missed out on medals in the jump and slalom events after finishing fourth with a leap of 39.1m — behind Australia's Caroll Jacinta (58.5m), Chile's Valentina Gonzalez (45.7m), and Australia's Casey Wooderson (43.0m) in the finals — and crashing out of the second round in the slalom on the Yarra River.
Prior to the open category, Aaliyah dominated the Junior Moomba competition, winning the three golds in tricks, jump, and overall, as well as the bronze in slalom
It was her 10th and final year competing in the junior event.
The veteran also broke the national record twice in two days by producing jumps of 39.5m and 41.4m — also her two personal best records — during the competition.
"I'm definitely very happy with my performances here and this should give me added confidence for the future," Aaliyah said in a statement after the championship.
"The best Moomba Masters ever. It has certainly been an incredible week for me and the highlight has got to be taking third in women's open tricks, that happens to be my first world-level podium finish in the open category and I'm pleased about that."
The Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) head coach and her father, Hanifah Yoong, was also pleased with the progress shown by the athlete.
"This is the coming-of-age acid test for Aaliyah and she proved her competitiveness at the world level by getting into the finals of tricks and jump in the open category. She also proved that she is becoming more independent and can manage an event by herself after travelling to Melbourne on her own," he said.
