- author, Tessa Wong
- role, BBC News
The death of a Chinese teenage badminton player who collapsed on the court has sparked outrage on Chinese social media.
The 17-year-old Zhang Zhijie was playing in a youth match when he suddenly suffered a seizure and collapsed to the floor, and was later pronounced dead at hospital.
Footage of the incident, widely shared online, shows around 40 seconds of silence before medical staff rushed to treat Zhang.
Authorities have faced intense criticism and questions about whether faster medical intervention could have saved his life.
The Indonesian badminton association, PBSI, later announced that he had suffered sudden cardiac arrest.
The Badminton Asia Junior Championships matches were held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on Sunday, with Zhang facing Japan’s Kono Kazuma.
After Zhang falls, a man can be seen running over to help her, but then stops and appears to look off the court for further instructions.
A PBSI spokesman later told reporters that medical teams must adhere to rules that require them to get permission from the referee before entering the court.
“This is in accordance with the rules and procedural standards that apply to all international badminton tournaments,” he said.
Badminton Asia, the regional branch of badminton’s governing body, the Badminton World Federation, also said Zhang was taken to hospital in an ambulance within two minutes.
PBSI now plans to ask the federation to reevaluate the rules “to make them more tailored and allow for faster action to save athletes if similar cases arise in the future.”
Other professional sports organisations, such as the English Football Association, have similar rules.
But it sparked outrage among Chinese users of the social media platform Weibo, with many broadly condemning the rules.
“What is more important, rules or people’s lives?” was liked by thousands of people.
“Did Zhang’s death mean we missed the ‘golden age’ of rescue?” asked another comment written under the hashtag about Zhang’s death, which has been trending on Weibo for several days.
Others called for the Badminton World Federation to “completely review” the rules, with one person saying: “Why do we need permission when lives are at stake?”
Chinese state media outlet Xinhua published an editorial on Tuesday morning saying the incident “raised serious questions” about emergency response procedures at sporting events.
“Regardless of how the rules are established or how the referee rules, the prioritization of life should always be the supreme rule on the playing field,” the statement said.
Zhang was hailed as a rising star in the sport and his death prompted an outpouring of tributes and condolences.
Badminton Asia said it was “deeply saddened” that “badminton has lost a talented player,” adding that the sport was “deeply saddened.”
