PETALING JAYA: Decorated sports writer and newsman Tony Francis (pix) passed away peacefully on Monday after a battle with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).
Tony, a former New Straits Times chief news editor who served the New Straits Times group for 35-years from 1967-2002, was 73 at the time of his passing.
A dedicated and talented media practitioner, Tony was well known for his sports reporting. He was described as the best sportswriter in the country by his peers.
Tony started his career as a 20-year-old with the New Straits Times and rose through the ranks from a cadet reporter before he became an assistant sports editor, sports editor, chief news editor and associate editor before he retired in 2002.
Tony also had stints with MalayMail as its editor-in-chief besides venturing into the golf scene as editor of Golf Digest with lifestyle publisher Blu Inc.
Tony’s decorated career saw him cover two Olympic Games in Korea (1988) and Barcelona (1992) as well as three World Cups (1974 Germany, 2006 Berlin and 2010 in South Africa), besides other sporting spectacles like the Thomas Cup, SEA Games and Asian Games.
His contribution to sports also saw him inducted to the Olympic Council of Malaysia Hall Of Fame.
He was survived by his wife and two children.
