Picture Credit: X
A 17-year-old Chinese badminton player, Zhang Zhi Jie on Sunday, June 30 collapsed on the court during the Asia Junior Championship. The 2024 edition of the Asia Junior Championship is being held in Indonesia.
Zhang Zhi Jie, who was playing against Japan’s Kazuma Kawano at the Asia Junior Championship in Yogyakarta, suddenly fell on the ground. The incident occurred when the scoreline read 11-11 in the first set. Soon after collapsing on the court on Sunday, he received treatment and was later referred to the hospital. In the meantime, the efforts to resuscitate him failed as he passed away shortly.
Although the cause of death was not known at that time, but the Badminton Asia and Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) released a joint statement on Monday, July 1. “China’s Zhang Zhi Jie, a singles player, collapsed on the court during a match in the evening and was sent to hospital where he passed away at 23.20 local time yesterday. Zhi Jie was playing a group stage match against Japan when he collapsed and was attended to by the tournament doctor and medical team. He was taken in the standby ambulance in less than two minutes and sent to hospital,” he said.
“Badminton Asia, PBSI and the organising committee are immensely saddened and expressed their deepest condolences to Zhang’s parents, family and Chinese Badminton Association (BCA),” they further added while hailing Zhang as “talented player.”
