KUALA LUMPUR: Former national hockey player S. Sivabalan, 59, died this afternoon in Ipoh, Perak.

His death was confirmed by Malaysia Hockey Confederation (MHC) deputy president Prof Datuk Dr S. Shamala.

He had collapsed at 3.30 pm while playing a hockey match commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Royal Ipoh Club at the grounds of the Perak Sikh Union Club.

"I was given to understand that his friends were with him when he suddenly collapsed while playing.

"They tried to provide emergency resuscitation but he did not show any response," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Sivabalan was part of the national hockey squad in the 1980s and also played for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in the 1990s, in the team then known as Kilat Club.

-- BERNAMA