PETALING JAYA: Sarawakian twins Aleysha and Ryan Zachary Shareef Van Der Horst have bagged the gold and bronze at the 27th World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) held in the US recently, bringing pride to Malaysia.
Both Aleysha and Ryan were awarded the bronze for their performance in the Pop Vocal category under the Junior Division, according to Borneo Post Online.
However, both of them secured a gold medal each for another duet, making it a grand total of five medals for Malaysians at the 2024 WCOPA.
Not only that, Aleysha won first place in the Broadway Vocal category for ages 11 to 12 as well as crowned the Division champion for the same category during the competition.
She was also granted a scholarship from the New York Film Academy.
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Besides showing off their singing prowess at the global stage, the twins also represented Malaysia for the modelling categories at the 2024 WCOPA.
Their vocal coach, Dewi Liana Seriestha, the first Malaysian to win the Miss Talent at the Miss World 2004 pageant, congratulated her students for their victories, also commending them for their diligence during training.
“I am so proud of them. They have worked so hard to reach this level. They finished school and went straight to training.
“Sometimes they didn’t even have proper meals because they were so focused on winning the competition,” she was quoted as saying.
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Dewi, who also won the Miss Talent title at the Miss World 2004 pageant, said she was only going to have two classes with Aleysha and Ryan but eventually saw them through the end upon their insistence, training continuously for nearly two months.
“Their talent and enthusiasm are remarkable. As a teacher, their achievements are the greatest gift,” Dewi added.
