KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — On the second day of Aidilfitri, the country’s sports community was shocked by the news of the passing of national archer Haziq Kamaruddin this morning.

A family member, who wished to remain anonymous, said the 27-year-old Olympian recurve archer had collapsed after performing the Subuh prayer at his house in Kajang.

"He suddenly collapsed as soon as he came out from the toilet after the prayer and lost consciousness,” she told Bernama when contacted.

Haziq’s body is now at the Kajang Hospital for post mortem.

The archer, who hailed from Johor, had competed in two Olympic Games, namely the London 2012 and Rio 2016 editions. He was currently hunting for slots to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to be held from July 23 until Aug 8.

Haziq had also represented Malaysia at various levels for a decade and won many medals, including a gold medal at the 2011 Asian Grand Prix in Laos and a bronze medal at the 2019 Asia Cup in the Philippines.

In addition, the athlete also won four gold and two silver medals through individual and team events throughout his participation in the SEA Games from 2011 until 2019.

Haziq, together with diving queen Pandelela Rinong, were named the Bukit Jalil Sports School Sportsman and Sportswoman for 2012.

Meanwhile, his teammate Zulfadhli Ruslan was among the first to express his condolences over Haziq’s passing via his Facebook account.

"Assalamualaikum, I regret to inform you that my friend Haziq Kamaruddin had returned to his creator this morning. May his soul be showered with blessings and placed among the pious. Let’s pray for him. Al-Fatihah,” he wrote. — Bernama