Rian Sukmawan passes away

Only a few days after Carsten Mogensen collapsed in his hotel room in Kazan, victim of a ruptured aneurysm, more dramatic news struck the badminton world. Indonesian shuttler Rian Sukmawan, 30, passed away on Saturday. His former partner on court Yonatan Suryatama Dasuki told Badzine that Rian passed away after a heart attack just after finishing playing an exhibition match in Semarang.

“He had just finished playing his match, then suddenly fainted. After that, some friends tried taking him to hospital but is was too late,” said Dasuki.

Rian Sukmawan was a very inventive and creative player on top of being an always smiling person. He reached the top 15 in the world at the end of 2010 with Dasuki. He changed partners a few times – pairing up with several top players, including Markis Kido and Rendra Wijaya, with whom he played his last competitive match in 2014. Rian’s last Grand Prix title was the 2007 Dutch Open but he had two subsequent major runner-up finishes, including one after an amazing final in the 2009 Yonex Japan Open which he barely lost to his compatriots Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.

“He used to always scold me because I was lazy and did not practise hard enough, then I couldn’t focus on court. He was a good man. When we had tough matches, he always took a long time to recover as his body wasn’t so fit, but he was always trying very hard. I am so sad,” added his friend Dasuki.

All of us at Badzine would like to express our sympathy and send our condolences to his family and friends. Rian will be remembered in the badminton family.