Indian shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy bereaved, loses father
New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI): Asian Games champion shuttler Satwiksairaj Rankireddy's father R Kasi Viswanatham died of cardiac arrest on Thursday morning.
Satwik, currently in the national capital for the 43rd PSPB Inter-Unit badminton tournament, was scheduled to receive the prestigious Khel Ratna award on Thursday. His father, a retired physical education teacher, was set to travel to join him for the ceremony but tragically passed away 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 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, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and the 2023 Asian Championships, 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.
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.
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
