China’s junior player Zhang passes away in Indonesia

PETALING JAYA: It was a sad start to the week for the badminton fraternity as promising China shuttler Zhang Zhijie collapsed on the court during a mixed team match at the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta and passed away on Sunday (June 30).

Badminton Asia said in a statement released on Monday that the tragic incident occurred while China was facing Japan in a Group D match on Sunday.

Zhijie collapsed on the court while playing his boys singles match against Kazuma Kawano.

China went on to win the tie 3-2 to advance to the quarter-finals as the Group D champions.

“The world of badminton has lost a talented player. Zhijie was playing a group match against Japan when he collapsed,” the Badminton Asia confirmed in a statement.

“He was attended by the tournament doctor and medical team and was sent to the hospital in a standby ambulance in less than two minutes. He passed away at 11.30 pm local time on June 30.

“Badminton Asia, PBSI and the organising committee are immensely saddened and expressed their deepest condolences to Zhijie’s parents, family and China Badminton Association (CBA).”

Zhijie was also supposed to play in the individual event, which commences after the mixed team from July 3 where he is the seventh seed in the boys’ singles.