Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah among world's top 20

National water skier Aaliyah Yoong Hanifah for the first time is listed in the top 20 world ranking for the Under-17 category in the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF).

Aaliyah, the youngest skier, was listed in the top 20 after qualifying for the semi-final round in the Moomba Masters championship in Melbourne, early this month.

The 12-year-old won the Under-17 title in the two weeks of the Moomba Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), creating a new Asian record in tricks with 6,610 points along the way.

Aaliyah shone through the Moomba LCQ by creating a new personal best of two buoys on a 13-metre rope in slalom and 26.7 metres in jump which saw her move up to number three ranking in the overall event of the Under-14 category.

She is ranked just behind Ukraine's Stanislava Prosvetova and United States' Kristen Bladwin, who are both a year older than her.

Malaysian Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (MWWF) head coach, Hanifah Yoong, who is also Aaliyah's father, said his daughter's new ranking will grant her a chance in the future world championships.

"Malaysia is also slated to host the 2019 International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) Waterski World Championship in Putrajaya and we aim for Aaliyah to be ranked in the top three in tricks and top five overall by then," he said in a statement today.

Hanifah said Aaliyah will be competing in two events in the Florida Record Tournament from May 14-15 and the United States Masters Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) on May 22-23.

"We have set up a three-week training with one of the world's best tricks coach, Cory Pickos. Florida has the best training grounds and trainer for future world champions and I hope Aaliyah will use this opportunity to level up in terms of skills and tricks," he said.