A 17-year-old Chinese badminton player died after collapsing on court during an international tournament in Indonesia, officials said Monday, mourning him as “outstanding” and “talented.”

Zhang Zhijie suddenly fell ill during Sunday’s match against Japan’s Kazuma Kawano at the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta.

The score in the first game was 11-11 when Zhang collapsed to the floor. He received medical attention at the scene and was taken by ambulance to hospital, but died after resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

The cause of death was not initially known.

“China’s singles player Zhang Zhijie collapsed on court during his match this evening,” Badminton Asia and the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) said in a joint statement on Monday.

“He was taken to hospital where he died yesterday at 11:20pm local time.

“He was treated by tournament doctors and the medical team. He was taken away by ambulance in less than two minutes and sent to the hospital.

“The world of badminton has lost a talented player,” the statement added.

Zhang started playing badminton in kindergarten and joined the Chinese youth national team last year.

Earlier this year he won the singles title at the Dutch Junior International, a prestigious youth tournament.

The China Badminton Association expressed “deep sadness”.

“Zhang Zhijie loved badminton and was an outstanding athlete in the national youth badminton team,” the CBA statement said.

It added: “The local hospital has not yet determined the cause of death at this time.”

On Monday, during a team tournament in Yogyakarta, a moment of silence was observed in memory of the Chinese team, and the players wore black armbands as a sign of respect.

India’s PV Sindhu, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist, called Zhang’s death “absolutely heartbreaking.”

“I offer my deepest condolences to Zhang’s family at this difficult time,” Sindhu, who was not at the tournament, wrote in X.

“The world lost an extraordinary talent today.”

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