Strong determination gets Aaliyah gold
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia waterski sweetheart, Aaliyah Yoong, 14, has secured her first gold in the overall waterski event.
With a score of 2678.89, she repeated her success during the 2015 28th Singapore SEA Games; hence being the youngest to win twice in a row.
Aaliyah dedicated her win to her family that had been supporting her from the beginning.
"I won't be able to stand where I am today without them. And to everyone that came to give their support to us, thank you," she said.
Aaliyah was reported to be unwell but nothing could stop her from giving her best.
Her mother, Norzeela Sulaiman said that her daughter has always been a fighter and never wanted to give up no matter what.
The silver medal for the women's overall category went to Nur Alimah Priambodo of Indonesia with a score of 1874.41, while the bronze medal was taken home by her compatriot Rossi Amir with a score of 1232.67.
On the other hand, Aaliyah's younger brother, Aiden Yoong Hanifah, 11, had to withdraw from the Men's overall event today as he was unwell.
Aiden's father who is also the head coach for the waterski athletes said Aiden's temperature was recorded at 39°C and he had asked him to rest.
"I want him to rest for these two days and focus on doing his best this 28 and 29," he said.
Aiden will be competing in the tricks waterski event alongside his younger brother, Adam, 9.
The men's overall category gold medal was bagged by Muhammad Zahidi Putu with a score of 2372.37, followed by his compatriot Febrian Kadir with an accumulated point of 1316.17.
The bronze medal was won by Mark Leong of Singapore with a score of 1173.30.
Zahidi had broken the SEA Games record for the jump in the overall category where he recorded a distance of 47.3m.
The previous record was set by Hermana Ade of Indonesia with a distance of 46.9 metres.
As for the wakeboard event, the gold medal was clinched by Sasha Christian of Singapore, silver by Galuh Mutiara Maulidina of Indonesia and bronze by Singaporean Jia Yi Gooi. — Bernama