KUALA LUMPUR, June 4: Former national men’s doubles coach Lee Guan Chong died at a hospital in Bangsar today. He was 87.
Eric Lee said his father died of old age, leaving behind three children.
“My father died at the Pantai Hospital in Bangsar due to old age at 7.52 am. My father was active as a coach at the Royal Lake Club and Bukit Kiara here before retiring in 2017.
“Our family is discussing the preparations for his cremation, which will be done in Petaling Jaya,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Meanwhile, former national shuttler and coach Datuk James Selvaraj, who used to be coached by Guan Chong, described the coach’s demise as a huge loss for the national sports fraternity.
He described Guan Chong as an assertive coach who passed on all his knowledge to the national team during their preparation for the 1975 and 1976 editions of the Thomas Cup Finals.
“The coach (Guan Chong) guided the men’s doubles squad in 1975 and 1976 and, at that time, I was playing men’s doubles with Moo Foot Lian while the other combination was Dominic Soong-Cheah Hong Chong.
“He was very strict to ensure we achieved the best result possible, but he was very nice with us (players) back then,” he said.
Guan Chong was the national men’s doubles coach for the 1975 and 1976 editions of the Thomas Cup Finals and, in the 1976 Finals, the national team won silver after losing 9-0 to Indonesia in the final. – TVS
