2016 NEWS
IWWF SELECTS MALAYSIA’S AALIYAH FOR 2017 WORLD GAMES IN POLAND
December 15, 2016
Teenage water skier Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah will soon add another prestigious event to her schedule after she was invited as one of only 27 open women skiers to participate in the 2017 World Games that will be held in Wroclaw, Poland from July 22-29.
Aaliyah, 13, received the invitation from the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) through the Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) on Wednesday to compete in the tricks event.
It is a major feat for Aaliyah as she had set another historic mark to become the youngest skier to be selected for the World Games at only 13 years of age.
Aaliyah, who bagged five gold medals at the Asian Waterski and Wakeboard Championships in South Korea in August, is ranked No. 21 in the world in tricks for open women and No. 6 in the world for U17 women.
With each country only allowed one skier, Aaliyah has leapfrogged several top skiers such as world No. 3 Erika Lang of the United States and Canada’s world No. 5 Whitney McClintock to take a spot in Wroclaw.
“I am so excited to be selected. It is such a great honour for me because this is the first time that i am selected for a multi-sport event at a world level,” said Aaliyah.
The teenager’s selection for the World Games will however put her 2017 plans into a slight disarray.
The 2015 SEA Games double gold medallist is due to depart for Santiago, Chile on Dec 29 to compete at the IWWF Junior World Championships from Jan 3-8.
She is also due to compete at the IWWF Asian Oceanian Championships in Auckland, New Zealand (Feb 1-6) and the Moomba Masters in Melbourne, Australia in March.
Besides that, Aaliyah will also head to Florida in April for a six-week training stint with former world champion Cory Pickos and to compete in the US Masters in May.
She is also set to compete at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur where she will look to win another two gold medals to add to her three gold medals won in the last two SEA Games in Palembang and Singapore.
“It is now a dilemma for us to try and fit the World Games into her schedule,” said her father-cum-coach Hanifah Yoong.
“We need to sit down with her and contemplate very carefully what is good for her despite this huge and rare honour for Aaliyah.”
The MWWF and Aaliyah have until Dec 19 to confirm their participation for the World Games.
WATERSKIER AALIYAH ENDS ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH 5 GOLDS
August 29, 2016
Teenager Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah has bagged five gold medals to cap a successful week at the Asian Waterski and Wakeboard Championships in Yeonggwang, South Korea.
The 13-year-old, who holds the Asian record of 7,110 points for tricks, was never a doubt for the gold medal in her pet event despite competing in the Under-17 category.
She first set a meet record of 6,660 points in the preliminary round before going on to secure gold with 5,340 points on Thursday.
It was a 1-2 finish for Malaysia in the tricks event as 15-year-old Arianna Chow (3,910pts) took silver, ahead of South Korea’s Jung So-young (1,860pts).
Aaliyah grabbed her second gold on Thursday in the jump event, clearing 26.7m – also a new meet record – to finish ahead of So-young (12.8m).
Yesterday, the double gold medallist at the Singapore SEA Games last year continued to impress by grabbing the slalom gold.
Aaliyah was way ahead of the field as she managed 3.5 buoys on a 13m rope for the gold.
It was also a new national record, erasing the previous mark of 2 buoys on a 13m rope set by half-sister Philippa Yoong 12 years ago.
Arianna again settled for silver with 0.5 buoys on a 14.25m rope. Lebanon’s Soraya Saghbini was third after clearing five buoys on a 16m rope.
Aaliyah’s sweep of all three events was more than enough for her to win the overall category – for her fourth gold medal.
Aaliyah, her brothers – 10-year-old Aiden and eight-year-old Adam – and Arianna then took the team gold with a score of 4,168.99.
Aiden also had a superb outing, scoring 2,760 points in tricks to pip Japan’s Ryo Nagatomo to the silver by 10 points. Indonesia’s Suprihono Dimas Ridho (3,180pts) took gold.
South Korea finished with the silver in the team event after posting 4,075.76 while Japan (2,041.17) took bronze.
“It’s an incredible result and I can’t believe it … .especially since waterski is a sport that relies a lot on mental strength,” said a delighted Aaliyah.
“Winning the three-event was my personal goal, but anything can happen … a favourite can fall on the first trick or first slalom pass, so I’m very happy to have done it.
“I’m just a little disappointed I didn’t beat the Under-17 record for slalom (5 buoys 13m rope).”
Taken from : http://www.thestar.com.my/sport/other-sport/2016/08/26/aaliyah-bags-double-gold-in-asian-championship/
AALIYAH WINS 2 GOLDS IN SLALOM & TRICKS & HSU ANN A GOLD IN WAKEBOARD FOR MALAYSIA
August 16, 2016
The 2016 Malaysian Nationals which incorporates the International Invitation concluded last weekend in Putrajaya saw Malaysia taking home 3 golds from a total of 6 golds available.
Malaysia’s waterkiing star Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah grabbed not only the Women Tricks gold but also showed she is an emerging top level slalom skier by winning the Women Slalom gold.
Compatriot, Cheah Hsu Ann surprised herself and everyone else with a superb win in Women Wakeboard when favourite Galuh Mutiara of Indonesia had unfortunate early falls.
Indonesia won 2 golds through Zahidi Putu in Men Tricks and Ardy Trilaksanajaya in Men Slalom.
The remaining gold was won by Philippines’ Mark Griffin who gave all present a stirring show of his wakeboading prowess by taking the Men Wakeboard gold.
In the Wakeboard Team title Singapore was placed in 1st place with the trio of Joshua Tay, Gooi Jia Yi and Stephan Kolvakov with 200 points.
Malaysia’s duo comprising Cheah Hsu Ann & Ariana Eimer scoring 180 points. Indonesia’s trio of Galuh Mutiara, Aussie Aviriano and Dicky Mario scored 100 points for third.
With Mark Griffin being the sole representative from Philippines was placed 4th in the team competition.
The tournament was held in a different part of the Putrajaya Lake for the first time to test the water condition as compared to the traditional ski site in front of the Grandstands of Putrajaya’s Water Sports Complex. This move proved that this new ski site has better water condition as 7 skiers achieved personal bests last weekend.
Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah (MAS), Arianna Chow (MAS), Aiden Yoong Hanifah (MAS), Guruh Dwi Samudra (INA), Safira Widodo (INA), Ardy Trilaksanajaya (INA) and Zahidi Putu (INA) all improved their personal best scores in slalom last weekend.
Team Malaysia has a great future as they form the youngest athletes in the tournament and is an emerging Asian force in team standings while Aaliyah is already amongst the best in the world. The team comprised Aaliyah (13), Arianna Chow (15), Syahir Nasir (18), Aiden (10), Adam (8) and Hsu Ann (27).
They are had been training hard past months under coaches Marian Malaquin of France, Larry Gisler of Chile and Al Fisal of Malaysia in preparation for the 2016 IWWF Asian Championships to be held in Korea in a week’s time as well as for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
The 2016 Malaysian Nationals was sponsored by the National Sports Council Malaysia and supported by Perbadanan Putrajaya.
PENDING NEW ASIAN RECORD!
May 23, 2016
A new milestone for Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah in breaking the seven thousand points barrier with a new PB of 7110pts scored in the Sunset Cups Master LCQ Tournament held in Groveland near Orlando, Florida today!
This is yet another pending new Asian record for this young 12 year old Malaysian.
“This is surreal and I am overjoyed!” said Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah as she became first Asian woman trick skier getting into this zone and shattering her previous PB of 6610pts set earlier this year.
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RESTART PUT PAID ON AALIYAH'S HOPE OF A SPOT AT MOOMBA MASTERS FINAL
March 13, 2016
An untimely distraction cost water skier Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah a place in the tricks event final of the Moomba Masters in Melbourne.
The 12-year-old was on the way to start her first pass on the Yarra River when the boat was told to restart because the video signals were not reaching the judges’ tower.
That put Aaliyah off her rhythm and she fell in her second pass for a lowly score of 4,300 to finish last out of eight skiers in the semi-finals on Sunday.
World champion Anna Gay of the United States set the pace with 9,920 points while France’s Clementine Lucine was second with 8,770.
Another American – former world Under-21 champion – Alex Lauretano was third with 7,620 points.
Only the top six qualify for the final and Aaliyah’s score wasn’t far off from sixth placed Erika Lang’s 5,590.
“The restart after the aborted first pass did affect me a bit,” said the SEA Games double gold medallist Aaliyah.
“This could happen in any competition so I just need to be stronger in focusing on my task in future.”
Taken from: http://www.thestar.com.my/sport/other-sport/2016/03/13/aaliyah-fails-to-reach-moomba-masters-final/
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