Asian Games champion shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's father R Kasi Viswanatham died of cardiac arrest on Thursday morning.
Currently in Delhi for the 43rd PSPB Inter-Unit badminton tournament, Satwik was scheduled to receive the prestigious Khel Ratna award on Thursday.
His father, a retired physical education teacher, was set to travel and join him for the ceremony, but passed away tragically before he could make the trip.
"It is extremely sad and unfortunate that Satwik has lost his father this morning," said a source close to the family.
The 24-year-old badminton star from Amalapuram will depart for Andhra Pradesh this afternoon to be with his family.
Satwik, who forms a formidable men's doubles pair with Chirag Shetty, has been a trailblazer in Indian badminton. The duo, which won gold at the 2022 Asian Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 Asian Championships, is the only Indian doubles team to hold the No. 1 spot in the BWF World Rankings and win a BWF World Tour Super 1000 title.
In 2023, Satwik also set a Guinness World record for the fastest badminton smash by a male player, reaching a speed of 565 km/h. He had shared a heartwarming video on social media featuring his father unwrapping his Guinness World record certificate.