Kien Kiat reveals agony of informing the late Teck Chai's family of his death

Former Malaysia men’s doubles ace Koo Kien Kiat revealed how he had to inform the late Gan Teck Chai’s family of his passing from a heart attack aged 40 last Saturday.

Koo and Gan achieved success on court when they won the Malaysia Satellite and French International tournaments in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

Both shuttlers went their separate ways after that, but Koo said the pair’s bond were stronger than ever as they shared the same dormitory as room-mates for a good five years and Gan would still call him occasionally.

When Koo received the news of his dear friend early Saturday morning, he was dealt with double jeopardy.

“This was difficult news to accept. I couldn’t believe it at the time, but I had to accept it. I also had to inform Teck Chai’s family members of the bad news and it was painful.

“I immediately bought a flight ticket and flew to Surabaya that evening to help out with the arrangements to bring his body back, as his employer does not understand some of our Chinese customs,” he told Sin Chew Daily.

Tributes continued to pour in for Gan from the Malaysian badminton fraternity, including from Lee Chong Wei, Tan Bin Shen, and Rexy Mainaky among others.

Gan, who is survived by his wife and two kids, will be laid to rest on Wednesday.