The FASANOC has led tributes to Hamidan Bibi ©FASANOC

The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) has paid tribute to national tennis star and former Athletes' Commission member Hamidan Bibi, who has died at the age of 60.

Bibi, a longstanding national champion and former number one in the South Pacific, died at her home in Ba following a long illness.

She enjoyed a successful career in the sport, representing Fiji at three South Pacific Games and three South Pacific Mini Games.

Bibi also served on the Tennis Fiji Executive Board for more than a decade and held the position of assistant secretary in 2001.

The Fijian player was the FASANOC Athletes' Commission member on its ruling Executive Board between 2001 and 2003, and was also a member of the FASANOC's Women In Sports Commission, chairing the body from 2017 to 2020.

"She recognised the power of sport as an enabler and 'making sport more than a game' is a legacy that Hamidan will be remembered for," the FASANOC said in a statement.

"The loss of Hamidan Bibi has saddened not only the Tennis fraternity but the entire FASANOC family. 

"She was a great friend, mentor, colleague and advocate.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with her family in their time of grief but we also celebrate her life and her contribution to sport and to Fiji."