Grav8 Sports Brings In Saina Nehwal And Armaan Bhatia As Partners
Grav8 Sports has named Saina Nehwal and Armaan Bhatia as partners, as the company founded by RJ Anmol builds out premium sporting formats for India's CXO and C-suite community.
- Company: Grav8 Sports, founded by RJ Anmol
- New partners: Saina Nehwal and Armaan Bhatia
- Properties: CXO Pickleball League and CXO Baddy League
- Cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune
Who Grav8 Sports Has Brought In
Saina Nehwal, Olympic bronze medallist and former world number one in badminton, has been brand ambassador of Grav8's CXO Pickleball League since it launched. Armaan Bhatia is Asia's top-ranked pickleball player: he won the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the 2024 PWR DUPR India Masters and competes on the international professional circuit, including the PPA Tour.
"Saina brings unmatched credibility from elite international sport, while Armaan brings current professional expertise from pickleball," said RJ Anmol, founder, Grav8 Sports.
The Leagues
The CXO Pickleball League launched in Mumbai in 2025 and is billed by the company as India's first. Its first edition ran to 16 teams and 31 matches, with senior leaders from companies including Barclays, HDFC ERGO, Hitachi Systems, WNS, KPMG, Adidas, Spotify and Google. The platform has since expanded to Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune.
A second property, the CXO Baddy League, held its first edition at NSCI Dome in Mumbai on 18 October, with Nehwal as brand ambassador and partners including HDFC ERGO, Yotta Data Services and Regalia Business Parks.
Why The C-Suite Is The Audience
For sponsors, a league whose players are senior executives is a business audience in a social setting, which is hard to reach through media alone. "Grav8 is taking it into a premium space for the C-suite," said Bhatia, while Nehwal pointed to pickleball's growth in India and the platform's decision to bring the CXO community into the sport.
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