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KUALA LUMPUR – Former national women’s sprinter Anita Ali died at the University of Malaya Medical Centre here at the age of 59 yesterday.
The news of the passing of the athlete who had competed in the SEA Games in the 1980s was shared by National Athletes’ Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) chairman Datuk Noorul Ariffin Abdul Majeed.
He said the deceased died at about 7.15pm yesterday due to breast cancer, which had spread to her liver and spine.
“Last December, the deceased was admitted to the University Malaya Medical Centre and Yakeb took her to a private hospital for a positron emission tomography scan, where it was found that her cancer was worsening,
“She fought hard against cancer but she died yesterday on her birthday,” he said.
Noorul Ariffin said the demise of Anita, who had participated in the 1990 Asian Games in China, was a great loss to the country’s sports arena.
He said Anita, who was a Yakeb member, gave a lot of advice to young athletes to continue making the country proud.
At the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Anita, who was 21 at the time, broke the national record for the 4x100m relay in 45.37s with her partner G. Shanti, Sajaratuldur Hamzah, and Datuk Mumtaz Jaafar. – Bernama, January 13, 2023
