Grav8 Sports (Gravate Sports), an Indian sports management and experiential company, is bringing star power to the boardroom battle, signing badminton champion Saina Nehwal and pickleball ace Armaan Bhatia as partners as it expands its premium sporting properties for India’s corporate leaders.
Founded by RJ Anmol, Grav8 launched India’s first chief experience officer & chief executive officer (CXO) pickleball league in Mumbai in 2025. Its inaugural edition featured 16 teams and 31 matches, drawing senior executives from companies including Barclays, HDFC Ergo, Hitachi Systems, WNS (World Network Services), Spotify, KPMG (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler), Adidas and Google. Industrialist Dr Niranjan Hiranandani was among the prominent names associated with the league.
The platform has since spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune, adding the CXO Baddy League (Chief Executive Officer & C-Suite Officer Badminton League), to its sporting line-up. Its inaugural edition took place at Mumbai’s National Sports Club of India Dome (NSCI Dome) on 18 October, with Nehwal as brand ambassador and HDFC Ergo, Yotta Data Services and Regalia Business Parks among its partners.
Nehwal brings two decades of elite badminton experience to the association. The Olympic bronze medallist and former world No. 1 has been associated with Grav8’s pickleball league as brand ambassador since its launch.
Bhatia adds professional pickleball credentials. Ranked Asia’s top player in 2024, he claimed a triple crown at the Pickleball World Rankings & Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (PWR DUPR) India masters that year, winning the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles. He also competes on the international professional circuit, including the Professional Pickleball Association Tour (PPA Tour).
Grav8 Sports founder RJ Anmol shared, “Grav8 was built to create a premium sporting environment for India’s CXO community. Nehwal brings unmatched credibility from elite international sport, while Bhatia brings current professional expertise from pickleball. Their association strengthens both the sporting and leadership dimensions of what we are building.”
Nehwal stated, “Pickleball has grown significantly in India, and Grav8 has created a differentiated platform by bringing the CXO community into the sport. I am happy to be associated with its growth and with the larger vision of building premium sporting experiences.”
Bhatia mentioned, “Pickleball is developing rapidly in India, both as a professional sport and as a recreational format. Grav8 is taking it into a premium space for the C-suite, and I am excited to contribute my experience as a professional player to this journey.”
