Aaliyah finishes 9th in tricks final
Published on: Monday, August 19, 2019
By: Bernama
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysian waterski darling Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah churned out another splendid performance to end her campaign at the 2019 IWWF World Waterski Championships with a commendable ninth placed finishing in the tricks event, even managing to place better than reigning tricks world champion Erika Lang of the USA in the process.
Aaliyah said she was very happy with her performance, which saw her doing five flips before falling off.
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Her score of 7,440 points in the final topped her preliminary round score of 7,320 points in the event held at the Watersports Complex here.
“The tension at the rope was high and I got pulled back. It was pretty good though I fell during the middle of the run, so I didn’t get my last two tricks in.
“Usually I am not consistent with my scores but doing above 7,000 points in a row is something amazing for me,” the 16-year-old athlete said, adding that she now hopes to maintain an above 7,000 score on a more consistent basis.
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In the run-up to her ninth placing, Aaliyah even did better than world women tricks champion Lang, who only managed an 11th placing, and she now hopes to polish her skills and become a more accomplished waterskier.
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On whether a gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines was within Malaysia’s reach, Aaliyah said she was targeting at least one (gold medal), based on the fact there were not too many competitive waterskiers in the Asean region. – Bernama