Elderly dies while watching Chong Wei vs Lin Dan match

The teeth-gritting, nail-biting men's singles badminton semifinal of the Rio Olympics between Datuk Lee Chong Wei and China's Lin Dan last Friday night proved too much for an elderly man here.

While watching the match at his younger sister’s house around 8.55pm, Lum Wah Long, 64, suddenly collapsed and died.

According to his cousin Bibi Lam, Wah Long was so excited while watching the match with his family that at one point he stood up to cheer when the points were nearing 20-20 in the rubber set.

“But a few seconds after he stood up and cheered, he sat back down to take a breath. After that he just collapsed and lost consciousness,” she said.

She said, a relative then tried to wake Wah Long up, but he could only open his eyes for a moment before slipping out again.

She said the family then called an ambulance. When the medical personnel arrived, they checked his pulse but he was already gone.

“My cousin was an avid badminton fan. Throughout the Rio Olympics, he never missed a game, be it the doubles or singles match.

“But, I guess the exhilarating match between Chong Wei and Lin Dan proved too much for him,” Bibi said.

The victim’s younger brother, Toong Wong, when contacted by Astro AWANI, declined comments as he was still shocked by his brother's demise and was currently sorting out his funeral.

Meanwhile, Perak Health director, Datuk Dr Juita Ghazali when contacted confirmed the incident.

“The victim died while watching the semifinals match and the Batu Gajah Hospital paramedics confirmed that he died at home.

“However, for the (men’s singles) badminton finals yesterday, there were no reports of any deaths received,” she added.

When contacted, Batu Gajah OCPD ACP Mohd Nasri Omar said Wah Long’s death has been classified as sudden death.

“Based on preliminary investigation, the victim had a history of heart ailment. He died of a heart attack,” he told Astro AWANI.