Former hockey Olympian Kevin Nunis dies, aged 65

 

Former hockey player and national Olympian Khairy Nunis Abdullah, or Kevin Christopher Nunis, passed away today at the age of 65.

This was confirmed by his son, Karl Iskandar Nunis, who said his father breathed his last at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) this evening, after several months of treatment for a blood infection.

“Our father returned to Rahmatullah at 6.46pm this evening at HKL,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Karl, who is also a sports journalist at a pay television company, said his late father would be bathed and prayed over at Surau Sillaturrahim, Taman Segambut SPPK, at 8am tomorrow.

National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) chairperson Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said the passing of the late Khairy was a great loss to the national sports arena.

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“The deceased had brought glory to the country, and he had endured quite a while due to his illness,” he said.

Earlier, Yakeb, in a post on social media, said Khairy was admitted to HKL on May 21 following his health condition deteriorating due to a bacterial infection in the blood.

Khairy was a national hockey player who competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and also represented the country at the Asian Games in India (1982) and South Korea (1986).

After his retirement as a national athlete in 1989, the Negeri Sembilan native continued his career as a coach for Terengganu and Pahang and was an assistant coach for the national junior squad in 1994.

- Bernama