“Chinese singles player Zhang Zhijie collapsed on the court during a match in the evening,” the Badminton Confederation of Asia and the Badminton Federation of Indonesia (PBSI) said in a joint statement.
Zhang Zhijie fell ill while facing Japan’s Kazuma Kawano in the first set, 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 before being taken to hospital where he died at 11:20 p.m. Sunday (6:20 p.m. HB), 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 a young 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 held in Haarlem, Netherlands.
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 family of the young Chinese player.
2024-07-01 15:00:17
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