India's champion badminton player Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's father R Kasi Viswanatham passed away today morning due to a heart attack. Satwik is in Delhi currently and will depart this afternoon to Andhra Pradesh to be with his family. For the unversed, the shuttler was in Delhi to feature in the 43rd PSPB Inter-Unit badminton tournament.
Notably, Satwik was scheduled to receive the prestigious Khel Ratna award today in the national capitals. He was bestowed with the honour earlier for his brilliant show for India at the top level. Moreover, his father, a retired physical education teacher, was also set to join him in the ceremony and was due to travel today before he suffered a severe heart attack.
"It is extremely sad and unfortunate that Satwik has lost his father this morning," said a source close to the family according to PTI.
Satwiksairak Rankireddy forms a world-class doubles pair with Chirag Shetty and is a trailblazer in Indian badminton. The duo together old at the 2022 Asian Games, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the 2023 Asian Championships and is the only Indian doubles pair to hold the No.1 spot in the BWF World Rankings and win a BWF World Tour Super 1000 title.
Satwiksairaj also set a Guinness World Record for the fastest badminton smash by a male player. One of his smashes in 2023 was recorded at a staggering speed of 565 km/h. He also shared a heartwarming video of his father unwrapping his Guinness World Record certificate in excitement on social media. "As my shuttle soared at 565 kmph, I realized the true speed of a father's pride – an unbreakable record in my heart." #GuinnessWorldRecord," he wrote on X.
