Thursday, October 18, 2012

Dilbagh Singh Kler dies..

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Former renowned Sabah sportsman Datuk Dilbagh Singh Kler died here early this morning following a short illness.
   He was 76 and is survived by his wife, Datin Amrit Kler, three children and a grandson.
   He breathed his last just before 5am at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 2 after being warded for a week, his eldest daughter, Jaswinder told Bernama.
"It was totally unexpected. But he hadn't been well because he was already old," said Jaswinder, a former   New Straits Times journalist and wife to Bernama Sandakan Chief Haslin Gaffor.
   The Kota Kinabalu-born Dilbagh was a renowned athlete who represented Malaysia in several international tournaments in the 1960s such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games (then known as British Empire & Commonwealth Games).
    But his greatest achievements were the gold medals he won for the 3,000-metre steeplechase event in the South-East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur (1965), Bangkok (1967) and Rangoon (1969).
    Dilbagh also served as a coach for athletes under the State Youth and Sports Ministry and retired in 1991.
I    n 2006, he was among 36 people awarded the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) which carries the title "Datuk" in conjunction with the 60th birthday celebration of Sabah's then Head of State Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah.
     His remains will be placed at the Fook Lu Siew Funeral Parlour here until Saturday when it will be cremated.