King, Queen express condolences to Sabiamad's family

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah today expressed their condolences to the family of former national shooting champion Datuk Sabiamad Abdul Ahad, who died of a heart attack yesterday.

Their Majesties also expressed their sadness over the Malaysian Olympian's passing and hoped that the family will remain patient and resilient during this sorrowful and difficult time.

"The King and Queen greatly appreciate Allahyarham's devotion, services and sacrifices to the nation and describe his passing as a huge loss, especially in the field of shooting.

"Their Majesties also pray for his soul to be blessed by Allah SWT and placed among the righteous," a statement posted on Istana Negara's official Facebook account read.

The late Sabiamad donned Malaysian colours from 1981 before retiring in the early 1990s, and among his career highlights was representing the country at the Los Angeles Olympics in the United States in 1984. During his heyday, Sabiamad ruled the Air Pistol event at the South-East Asian level and also the Central Pistol, Rapid Pistol and Standard Pistol events.

Among his achievements was winning the 1983 SEA Games gold medal in the men's 50m pistol event in Singapore.

After retirement, he continued to be active in the sport as a coach and manager of the national squad, including stints as the national shooting squad manager in the Sea Games (Myanmar, 2013), (Singapore, 2017) and the Rio Olympics in 2016.

He had also been a board member of the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb).

-- BERNAMA