John C. Obara, a nationally ranked badminton player, died Tuesday after losing control of his motorcycle on Perrine Ranch Road, a Florida Highway Patrol report said.
Obara, 46, was heading west when he fell off his motorcycle after it started to tip over while he was negotiating a curve. Both Obara and the bike slid across the road and into the path of a Nissan pickup driven by Richard Goff, 39, of New Port Richey, the report said.
Obara, of 6336 Summerfield Loop, New Port Richey, was pronounced dead at Community Hospital.
A badminton player since he was 4, Obara at one time held seventh place in the USA Badminton U.S. Senior National Rankings for both men's singles and doubles, with partner Michael Anthony of Seminole. Obara, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of South Florida, also was certified as a U.S. Olympic badminton judge.
