On July 1, in the mixed team group stage of the 2024 Asian Youth Badminton Championships held in Indonesia, Zhang Zhijie, a 17-year-old player of the Chinese badminton team, suddenly fainted and died after being sent to the hospital.
After learning the bad news, Zhang Zhijie's family was grief-stricken, and his sister posted: "Watching the live broadcast this afternoon, I fell down when I watched him, and I had a few convulsions in the middle...... He was only 17 years old, and after a long wait for the paramedics to arrive after he fell to the ground, he told me how to accept it! He is a very well-behaved child, and all the prize money he got for the first time this year was used to buy gifts for me, my mother, and grandparents......"
A video on social media shows that in the mixed team group stage of the 2024 Asian Youth Badminton Championships, the score of the first game came to 11:11, and just as the opponent was about to serve, Zhang Zhijie suddenly fell to the ground and lay on the floor with body convulsions.
"The world of badminton has lost a talented player." The Asian Badminton Federation and the Indonesian Badminton Association said in the announcement, "Chinese singles player Zhang Zhijie fainted on the court during a match in the evening and died at 23:20 local time on the 30th after being taken to the hospital." Zhang Zhijie fainted in the group stage against Japan, and the tournament doctors and medical team rescued him. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance in less than two minutes. ”
According to public information, Zhang Zhijie was sent to the Zhejiang Provincial Team when he was in the third grade of primary school, and will enter the National Youth Team in 2023. He has won the men's singles championship of the 15-year-old group in the U15-17 finals of the 2022 National U-Series Badminton Competition, the men's singles champion and men's team champion in Group B of the 2023 National Youth Badminton Championships, the men's singles champion in the 2024 Dutch Youth Badminton International Championships, and the men's team champion in Group B of the 2024 National Youth Badminton Championships.
In a previous public interview, Zhang Zhijie said that he wanted to prove himself through hard work. He said: "The two teammates in the team are indeed more well-known and stronger than me, but I am a little unconvinced, and I want to prove that I am not worse than the two of them through my results and competitions. ”
On the morning of July 1, the Chinese Badminton Association posted on its official Weibo to express deep condolences for Zhang Zhijie's unfortunate death on the court. The article said, "At present, the cause of the disease has not been clarified by the local hospital, and the Chinese Badminton Association continues to keep in touch with the Asian Badminton Federation, the Asian Youth Badminton Championships Organizing Committee and all parties in Indonesia, and new information will be released to the public in a timely manner." ”
Text丨Rushing News reporter Wu Yongming