The boy collapsed while he was playing his match. He was rushed to hospital but died shortly afterward.
A 17-year-old Chinese badminton player has died after collapsing on the court during a match at an Asian tournament in Indonesia, organizers said on Monday.
“China’s singles player Zhang Zhijie collapsed on the court during a match in the evening,” the Asian Badminton Confederation and the Indonesian Badminton Federation (PBSI) said in a joint statement. Zhang Zhijie fell ill while facing Japan’s Kazuma Kawano in the first set with a score of 11-11 at the Asian Junior Badminton Championships in Yogyakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java.
“He was treated by the tournament doctor and medical team (and) was transported to the emergency ambulance in less than two minutes and sent to hospital,” the statement said. The young player was “transported to hospital where he died at 11:20 p.m.” on Sunday, the statement said.
“At this time, the local hospital has not yet identified the cause of death,” said the Chinese Badminton Federation, which joined the two organizations behind the statement in expressing its “deepest condolences to the parents and family” of the player.
Zhang Zhijie started playing badminton at an early age, in kindergarten, and joined the Chinese junior national team last year. Earlier this year, he won the singles title at the Dutch Junior International, a prestigious youth tournament played in Haarlem, the Netherlands. On Monday, a minute of silence was observed during the team tournament which continues in Yogyakarta and the Chinese team wore black armbands as a sign of respect.
Indian player Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, who won Olympic silver and bronze in 2016 and 2021 respectively, called Zhang’s death “absolutely heartbreaking”. “The world has lost a remarkable talent today,” she wrote on the X network (formerly Twitter), offering “her deepest condolences” to the young Chinese player’s family.
2024-07-01 07:33:00
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