LONDON, The badminton community is in mourning this week after the sudden death of Indonesia’s former Olympic gold medallist Markis Kido at the age of 36.
Just days after the shocking scenes of Danish footballer Christian Eriksen collapsing while playing for Denmark, Kido died of a heart attack on Monday after he had just started a friendly game at a sports hall in Tangerang. He was taken to hospital, where it was confirmed that he had passed away.
With former partner Hendra Setiawan he won the 2007 men’s doubles world title and they claimed the No.1 spot in the world rankings. They followed that up by winning the 2008 Olympic title in Beijing.
They also won the Badminton Asia Championship title in 2005 and 2009 and the Asian Games gold in 2010 as well a a large number of international tournaments including nine BWF Super Series titles from 14 finals between 2007 and 2013. They also won six BWF Grand Prix titles from eight finals.
Team-mates Setiawan and Liliyana Natsir led the tributes while Agung Firman Sampurna, the chairman of PBSI (the Indonesian Badminton Association) said: “The big Indonesian badminton family is deeply saddened by the passing of Markis Kido, the badminton hero who has repeatedly made the Indonesian flag proud on the world badminton stage.
“Kido’s death is a big loss for the Indonesian badminton world. May the bereaved family have fortitude.”
Setiawan said: “”My deepest condolences for one of my best partners in joy and sorrow. He was one of the most extraordinary and talented players. I want to say thank you for being a good partner in winning or losing.
“Thank you to have partnered me from scratch and we both worked hard for 14 years. Thank you Kido and goodbye.”
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