Indian sports wrap, June 11: Bhambri-Galloway pair exits Boss Open

TENNIS

Bopanna remains only Indian alive at ATP Boss Open; Bhambri, Balaji exit after close defeats

Rohan Bopanna, in partnership with Sander Gille, beat Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner 6-3, 5-7, [11-9] in the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the €751,630 ATP tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, on Wednesday.

India’s number one doubles player, Yuki Bhambri and his American partner, Robert Galloway, fought their hearts out before losing their opener.

In a match where both sets were decided by tie-breakers, the Indo-American combination lost 6-7(5) 6-7(5) to Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico and Austin Krajicek from the USA in one hour and 34 minutes.

Balaji and his Mexican partner, Miguel Reyes-Varela, fought tooth and nail before losing 7-6(5), 3-6, 5-10 to the second-seeded French pair of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.

In the $15,000 ITF men’s event in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary, Rethin Pranav progressed to the second round in both singles and doubles.

(inputs from PTI)

-Team Sportstar

-PTI

BADMINTON

Machaxi Raises $1.5M from Prakash Padukone, Rainmatter and Others to Expand AI-Based Grassroots Badminton Training

Machaxi, a sports-tech company focused on grassroots coaching and digital sports infrastructure, has raised $1.5 million in a round led by Rainmatter, the investment initiative of Zerodha. The round also saw participation from Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone and existing investors.

The funding will help Machaxi scale its operations beyond Bengaluru into three new cities-Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai—while also building a nationwide framework for AI-powered badminton coaching.

As part of the expansion, Machaxi is collaborating with the Padukone School of Badminton to launch the “Machaxi x Padukone School of Badminton” program. The initiative aims to establish over 1,000 coaching centres across India within the next four years.

Prakash Padukone, Ace Indian Badminton player, said: “I’ve always believed that the future of Indian badminton lies in structured grassroots development. Machaxi’s vision to scale coaching while maintaining quality through AI is forward-thinking and impactful. I’m thrilled to partner with them in shaping the next generation of champions.”

CHESS

Abhijeet takes sole lead at Delhi GM Open with win over Gharibyan

Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta jumped into the sole lead with 6.5 points as he beat Grandmaster Mamikon Gharibyan in the seventh round of the Delhi GM Open chess tournament at the Tivoli Gardens, Chhattarpur, on Wednesday.

Following the Queen’s Gambit declined opening, Mamikon blundered a knight with an injudicious rook move on the 41st turn, and Abhijeet handled the advantage with clinical efficiency to pull through in 71 moves.

The only half point that Abhijeet had dropped was with a draw against the top seed SL Narayanan.

With three more rounds to be played in the 10-round Swiss league, there were eight players, including Narayanan, breathing down the neck of Abhijeet. And that bunch included International Masters Neelash Saha and Aronyak Ghosh.

In the eighth round, Abhijeet will play Grandmaster Manuel Petrosyan, while Narayanan will play Neelash. Mihail Nikitenko, Luka Paichadze, Vitaly Sivuk and Boris Savchenko were the others with six points.

There were 17 players with 5.5 points and with as good a chance as the top players to change the equations over the next three days, as competition heads to the climax.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

RUGBY

Tim Walsh backs Rugby Premier League to shape India’s Olympic dream

Tim Walsh, head coach of the Mumbai Dreamers, expressed strong belief in the transformative power of the GMR Rugby Premier League (RPL). The former Australian player-turned-head coach, who led the Australian women’s rugby sevens team to a gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, is confident that the tournament’s structure, professionalism, and potential will propel Indian rugby towards greater heights.

The GMR RPL is the first of its kind franchise tournament for Rugby Sevens’.

When asked about the Indian talent in his squad, Walsh highlighted how well they’ve adapted to the team environment. “The Indian boys have fitted in extraordinarily well. They’ve got some serious skill and talent. Now, it’s our job now to unlock it,” he said.

The Australian also underlined GMR RPL’s long-term value for India’s Olympic ambitions, stating, “Hopefully the impact is exponential. The tournament has visionary leaders and backing from amazing sponsors. Everything takes time, but with investment and professionalism, India has every chance to reach the Olympics.”

-Team Sportstar

BASKETBALL

Under-23 national 3×3 basketball championship set to begin on May 12

The first under-23 National 3×3 basketball championships is set to begin at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium in Kadavanthra, Kochi on Thursday.

Twenty-eight teams in the men’s section and 23 in women’s will be in action in the three-day league-cum-knockout event organised by the Starting Five Sports Management firm under the auspices of the Kerala Basketball Association and the national association BFI.

A total of 56 matches will be played on the opening day, starting at 8 a.m.

-Stan Rayan