“It’s a big loss not only for the Indonesian bridge community but also the world of sport given all that he contributed,” Indonesian Bridge Association spokesman Bert Polii told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Henky had been playing bridge since the age of 20 and won various titles at the local and international level. Along with Eddy Manoppo, Henky won the world championship title in Sanya, China, in 2014.

In 2009, Henky was appointed to the Manado Regional Legislative Council and after completing his term, he was then involved in promoting the sport among young people.

Bridge player Gungde Ariwangsa said Henky’s demise left a lot to do for those who sought to attract young people to the sport.

“He was one of the eager initiators and supporters of our promotion of the sport among students and groups of young people. Many people, including senior players looked up to him,” Gungde said.

Bert pointed out that aside from popularizing bridge as sport, both Henky and the association had joined forces to counter the negative association of bridge with gambling and therefore a danger to young people.

These efforts had borne fruit, he said, as now students in many universities learned how to strategize through bridge.

“Right now, we need to accelerate our efforts so we can find the new Henky Lasut who can speak out loud on the world stage,” he said.

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