Singaporean wakeskater Alysha Rizwan claims bronze at world championships in Beijing

SINGAPORE – Wakeskater Alysha Rizwan was staring at the exit after a fall during her run in the last-chance qualifier for the women’s Open event at the World Cable Wakeboard and Wakeskate Championships on Aug 15.

But the execution of more difficult tricks before the mishap earned her enough points to qualify for the six-women final, ahead of German rival Emily Menges, who completed her run.

And the Singaporean made the most of the reprieve by clinching a historical bronze medal at the Shunyi Olympic Cable Park in Beijing.

The 20-year-old scored 43.33 points in the final to secure a podium place behind Spaniards Telma Cester (71.33) and Ane Armas Segovia (64.67) in what has been described as the “biggest achievement” by a Singaporean in the sport.

“I wasn’t expecting the bronze medal for sure, because I came with the mindset that I just wanted to make it to the final.

“The competitors were the top wakeskaters in the world, so I thought maybe I didn’t have a chance, but I would still go just for the experience... So coming away with third is just incredible and very surreal,” said Alysha of her outing, where she finished ahead of Vanessa Tittarelli (41.67) of Italy, Poland’s Agnieszka Kobylanska (37.33) and Watcharaporn Dongnoi (35.00) of Thailand in the final.

Yunos Yusop, national coach of the Cable Wakesports Association (Singapore), hailed the wakeskater’s achievement, which came after intense training over the “last three to four months” under the tutelage of a pro rider from South Africa.

“This is the biggest achievement for Singapore for wakeskate as it’s on the world stage,” said the 55-year-old.

“It is (also) a very big achievement for her because it’s against all the best women wakeskaters in the world, and to finish in the top three and bring a medal home for Singapore, we are all very proud.”

After failing to secure one of the two automatic qualification spots in her heat because she “played it too safe”, Alysha knew it was do or die in the last-chance qualifier.

“I thought that doing my safe run will be enough to get me to the final, but maybe I underestimated my competitors because they were really, really good, so that’s where I lost.

“Honestly, in qualification, I wasn’t so nervous, but the last-chance qualifier really got me feeling a lot of anxiety because you’re only given one chance, one run, and when I fell, I really thought it was over for me.”

Wakeboard and wakeskate are both cable-tow board sports where riders perform tricks while being pulled by an overhead cable system or boat.

In wakeboarding, the rider’s feet are strapped to the board, giving more control and stability for big air tricks and grabs, while in wakeskate, the athlete’s feet are not strapped in, requiring the rider to stay balanced while performing flip tricks, board slides and rail work.

For Alysha, the achievement in Beijing marked another milestone in her career, after winning the women’s Open gold at the Asia and Oceania championships in the Philippines in 2025.

She also picked up a women’s bronze at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines and finished second in the women’s Under-18 category at the 2022 world championships in Thailand.

Alysha is pencilled in to compete in the national championships in November. Before that, she is planning a trip to Italy for a competition in September.