Nozomi Okuhara (奥原 希望,Okuhara Nozomi; born 13 March 1995) is a Japanesebadminton player. A former World's number 1 in the BWF rankings for the women's singles, she is well known for her speed, agility and endurance. She won a bronze at the2016 Summer Olympics,[3] and gold medal at the2017 World Championships.[4]
Okuhara started playing badminton in 2002. Eight years later, in 2010, she joined the Japanese national team. The 2010 Osaka International Challenge became her international debut.
In 2010, Okuhara reached the final of Lao International which she lost toNitchaon Jindapol.[5] The 16-year-old Okuhara became the youngest women's singles champion ever at theJapanese National Championships in 2011.[6] Additionally, she won the Austrian title by defeating her teammate Mayu Sekiya and a bronze medal at World Junior Championships.[7][8]
Okuhara was a runner-up at theAsian Junior Championships,[9] and helped her team in winning the mixed team title. She later clinched the gold medal at theWorld Junior Championships,[10] having won bronze one year earlier at the2011 BWF World Junior Championships. In July, she won her first Grand Prix title at theCanada Open.[11]
In 2013, while competing in her quarterfinal match againstSaina Nehwal at Malaysia Open, she suffered a severe knee injury in the 3rd game and remained out of International circuit for almost a year.[12] On her way to returning to elite competition, she participated in her first tournament in November since her last in January 2013 at the China Premier event.
In 2014, she won the New Zealand Open beating Kana Ito in final.[13] She also won theVietnam Open[14] and Korean Grand Prix titles.[15] She reached her first Superseries final at the Hong Kong Open in year end. On her way to the final, she defeated Reigning World ChampionCarolina Marín in the semifinal in 2 very one-sided games. However, she finished second toTai Tzu-ying in the finals.[16]
Okuhara won two Grand Prix Gold titles at Malaysia[17] and United States.[18] In both occasions, she got the better of her compatriotsSayaka Takahashi andSayaka Sato respectively. She also wonChina International event.[19] At the Malaysian Superseries event, she played the longest ever Women's singles match againstWang Shixian in quarterfinal which lasted for whopping 111 minutes.[20] Okuhara lost that match and was cramping heavily at the end. Scorecard was 21–19, 15–21, 20–22 in favour of Shixian. She won her first Superseries title atJapan Open in the final defeating her colleagueAkane Yamaguchi with score of 21–18, 21–12.[21] At the World Championships in Jakarta seeded 9th, she failed to get past ThaiPorntip Buranaprasertsuk in 1st round having lost to her twice before.[22] Just like previous season, Okuhara again reached the final of Hong Kong Open. She lost a very difficult encounter to Carolina Marín there, a contest of 3 games with very tight scoreline.[23] At the end of the 2015 BWF season, she won theDubai World Superseries final. On her path through without dropping a single game, she defeated all of her opponents namely Saina Nehwal, Tai Tzu-ying and top seed Carolina Marín. She defeated Marín twice, first in the preliminary round and again in semifinals with very one-sided scores. In the final she beatWang Yihan 22–20, 21–18.[24]
In 2016, she won the prestigiousAll England Open on her Birthday after defeatingWang Shixian in the final with score 21–11, 16–21, 21–19, and thereby became the first Japanese women's singles player to lift this title in 39 years sinceHiroe Yuki's triumph back in 1977.[25] She was seeded 6th forRio Olympic Games. She defeatedAkane Yamaguchi in quarterfinal 11–21, 21–17, 21–10 and reached the semis. Her opponent for semifinal was No. 9 seedP. V. Sindhu. Okuhara had no answers to Indian's attacking play and she went down in 2-straight games 19–21, 10–21.[26] In the bronze medal match she was given walkover againstLi Xuerui of China as her opponent was injured. In the process, she became Japan's first ever Badminton Women's singles player to win an Olympic medal. In the China Superseries in November, she developed shoulder issues which forced her to withdraw from Hong Kong Open and her chance of defending the Dubai Superseries Finals title was thwarted.[27]
In 2017, Okuhara claimed her first ever Australian Open title with a win overAkane Yamaguchi.[28] Continuing her good form, she participated at theWorld Championships seeded 7th. After defeating Canada'sRachel Honderich and teammateAya Ohori, she had an uphill task againstCarolina Marín of Spain in the quarterfinals. She beat Marín, the two-time reigning Champion in a gruelling battle of an hour and 33 minutes. She also claimed hard-fought victory overSaina Nehwal in the semifinals, having lost the opening game. For the final, she faced opposition from P. V. Sindhu. She managed to edge a 21–19, 20–22, 22–20 victory over the Indian in one of the classics of Badminton history. Match stretched for 1:50 hours, making it the 2nd longest match in Women's singles badminton ever. Ironically enough, the longest one was also played by Okuhara; in 2015 against Shixian at the Malaysian Superseries, which she lost. With Okuhara's victory, she became the first ever Japanese to win the World title since 1977.[4] After her triumph at the World stage, she also reached the final of Korean Open Premier Superseries, in whichP. V. Sindhu managed to beat Okuhara.[29] However afterwards she suffered knee injury and her performance dipped. She opted not to participate at the Dubai Superseries Finals, so as not to aggravate her knee problems.
In May, Okuhara helped Japan to win theUber Cup again after 37 years. Japan beat Thailand by 3–0 in the final and Okuhara didn't lose any of her matches.[30] She went toWorld Championships in Nanjing as defending champion but lost to the player she beat in the 2017 final, P. V. Sindhu, in 2 straight games in the quarterfinals.[31] She won her first ever World Tour Title, the Thailand Open Super 500 by defeating P. V. Sindhu 21–15 and 18.[32] In addition, she reached five more finals and won 2 of them in Korea[33] and Hong Kong,[34] both Super 500 events. Her final finishes were in Japan Super 750 (lost to Carolina Marín)[35] Fuzhou Super 750 events (lost toChen Yufei)[36] and World Tour Finals in Guangzhou to P. V. Sindhu.[37]
Okuhara reached the final of Singapore Open, but lost it to Tai Tzu-ying.[38] Also, she reached the final of Australia Open[39] & Japan Open[40] but lost to Chen Yufei and Akane Yamaguchi respectively. In the World Championships, she was seeded 3rd. She defeatedHe Bingjiao andRatchanok Intanon; reached the final of this tournament once more and set her encounter with P. V. Sindhu. In a repeat clash of 2017 World Championships final, she was defeated 7–21, 7–21 by the Indian player, henceforth settled for the silver medal.[41] She succeeded in occupying the Ranking 1 of the world shiftingTai Tzu-ying on 29 October 2019.[42] She also contested theDenmark Open final, which she lost toTai Tzu-ying with 17–21, 14–21 scores.[43] She was the runner-up in 6th straight tournament, after her defeat in the hands ofChen Yufei inFuzhou China Open with the scores 21–9, 12–21, 18–21.[44] She took part in World Tour Finals in Guangzhou where she had best of starts; defeating all her opponents of group stage. But in semi finals, she was beaten by Tai Tzu-ying whom she has beaten in group stage earlier. Okuhara won 2020 Denmark Open tournament after surpassing 3rd seed Carolina Marín in 2 games with scores 21–19, 21–17. This was the first time in 2 years that she won a World Tour title since her last at Hong Kong Open in 2018.[45]
She won her secondEngland Open title after her last in 2016 by beatingPornpawee Chochuwong from Thailand. She defeated her opponent in two games 21–12, 21–16.[46] Okuhara qualified for another Olympics inTokyo but she lost in quarter finals to He Bingjiao with scoreline of 21–13, 13–21, 14–21.[47] In 2022, Okuhara did not win a single tournament in which her best finishes only in semifinals ofHylo Open where she lost toZhang Yiman.[48] After her withdrawal from2021 BWF World Championships in second round the previous year, Okuhara missed the whole tournament again in2022 due to injury.[49][50]
In 2023, Okuhara mostly knocked out early in majority of it but manage to seal two world tour titles inSyed Modi International andOdisha Masters.[51][52] During Odisha Masters, Okuhara had a terrible experience when she was scammed by the local taxi drivers, stucked four hours in the hotel and had to paid extensive amount of fare in logistics. Thankfully, her cohorts,P.V. Sindhu andH.S. Prannoy came to rescue and safely brought her to the arena.[53][54]Badminton Association of India (BAI) stated that the incident is very unfortunate for Okuhara and promised that it won't happen again in the future.[55] In the next year, her luck dissipated as she made only one final inIndonesia Masters where she lost toWang Zhiyi in the final.[56]
In 2025, Her performance does not improve much in early season as she bounced out early inAll England Open against Sindhu.[57] As the season progress, she became more consistent and reached three quarterfinals inCanada Open,Macau Open and the firstIndonesia Masters Super 100.[58][59][60] In October, Okuhara had a great streak of winning 3 straight titles in S100 -Kaohsiung Masters,Malaysia Super 100 and the secondIndonesia Masters Super 100.[61][62][63]
Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Riocentro – Pavilion 4,Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Walkover | [3] |
Women's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Emirates Arena,Glasgow, Scotland | 21–19, 20–22, 22–20 | Gold | [4] | |
| 2019 | St. Jakobshalle,Basel, Switzerland | 7–21, 7–21 | Silver | [41] |
Girls' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Taoyuan Arena,Taoyuan, Taiwan | 16–21, 16–21 | Bronze | [8] | |
| 2012 | Chiba Port Arena,Chiba, Japan | 21–12, 21–9 | Gold | [10] |
Girls' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Gimcheon Indoor Stadium,Gimcheon, South Korea | 21–18, 17–21, 20–22 | Silver | [9] |
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[64] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[65]
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Thailand Open | Super 500 | 21–15, 21–18 | [32] | ||
| 2018 | Japan Open | Super 750 | 19–21, 21–17, 11–21 | [35] | ||
| 2018 | Korea Open | Super 500 | 21–10, 17–21, 21–16 | [33] | ||
| 2018 | Fuzhou China Open | Super 750 | 10–21, 16–21 | [36] | ||
| 2018 | Hong Kong Open | Super 500 | 21–19, 24–22 | [34] | ||
| 2018 | BWF World Tour Finals | World Tour Finals | 19–21, 17–21 | [37] | ||
| 2019 | Singapore Open | Super 500 | 19–21, 15–21 | [38] | ||
| 2019 | Australian Open | Super 300 | 15–21, 3–21 | [39] | ||
| 2019 | Japan Open | Super 750 | 13–21, 15–21 | [40] | ||
| 2019 | Denmark Open | Super 750 | 17–21, 14–21 | [43] | ||
| 2019 | Fuzhou China Open | Super 750 | 21–9, 12–21, 18–21 | [44] | ||
| 2020 | Denmark Open | Super 750 | 21–19, 21–17 | [45] | ||
| 2021 | All England Open | Super 1000 | 21–12, 21–16 | [46] | ||
| 2023 | Syed Modi International | Super 300 | 21–19, 21–16 | [51] | ||
| 2023 | Odisha Masters | Super 100 | 21–7, 21–23, 22–20 | [52] | ||
| 2024 | Indonesia Masters | Super 500 | 14–21, 13–21 | [56] | ||
| 2025 | Kaohsiung Masters | Super 100 | 21–16, 21–17 | [61] | ||
| 2025 | Malaysia Super 100 | Super 100 | 21–18, 21–11 | [62] | ||
| 2025 (II) | Indonesia Masters | Super 100 | 21–11, 21–9 | [63] |
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[66] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels wereSuperseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011.[67] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Hong Kong Open | 19–21, 11–21 | [16] | ||
| 2015 | Japan Open | 21–18, 21–12 | [21] | ||
| 2015 | Hong Kong Open | 17–21, 21–18, 20–22 | [23] | ||
| 2015 | Dubai World Superseries Finals | 22–20, 21–18 | [24] | ||
| 2016 | All England Open | 21–11, 16–21, 21–19 | [25] | ||
| 2017 | Australian Open | 21–12, 21–23, 21–17 | [28] | ||
| 2017 | Korea Open | 20–22, 21–11, 18–21 | [29] |
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, theBWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017.
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Canada Open | 21–8, 21–16 | [11] | ||
| 2014 | New Zealand Open | 21–15, 21–3 | [13] | ||
| 2014 | Vietnam Open | 21–15, 21–11 | [14] | ||
| 2014 | Korea Grand Prix | 21–17, 21–13 | [15] | ||
| 2015 | Malaysia Masters | 21–13, 21–17 | [17] | ||
| 2015 | U.S. Open | 21–16, 21–14 | [18] |
Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Lao International | 16–21, 17–21 | [5] | ||
| 2011 | Austrian International | 21–6, 21–16 | [7] | ||
| 2015 | China International | 21–19, 21–16 | [19] |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | G | S | B | NH | N/A | DNQ |
|
|
| Events | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Junior Championships | QF | G |
| World Junior Championships | 5th | S |
| Team events | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Team Championships | NH | S | NH | G | NH | A | NH | A | NH | B | |
| Asian Games | NH | G | NH | A | NH | ||||||
| Uber Cup | NH | B | NH | G | NH | A | NH | B | NH | B | |
| Sudirman Cup | S | NH | B | NH | S | NH | A | NH | A | NH | |
Girls' singles
| Events | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Junior Championships | 2R | S |
| World Junior Championships | B | G |
Girls' doubles
| Events | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Asian Junior Championships | 2R |
| World Junior Championships | 2R |
| Events | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Championships | 1R | A | 3R | QF | 1R | 1R | QF | NH | 1R | A | 1R | A | |||
| Asian Games | NH | A | NH | QF | NH | A | NH | ||||||||
| World Championships | NH | DNQ | 2R | NH | G | QF | S | NH | w/d | w/d | QF | NH | DNQ | [4][41] | |
| Olympic Games | DNQ | NH | B | NH | QF | NH | DNQ | NH | [3] | ||||||
| Tournament | BWF Superseries /Grand Prix | BWF World Tour | Best | Ref | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |||
| Malaysia Open | A | QF | A | QF | 2R | SF | 2R | SF | NH | QF | 1R | A | 1R | Q | SF ('17, '19) | [12][20] | |||
| India Open | A | QF | w/d | QF | A | NH | A | 1R | QF | 1R | QF ('15, '17, '24) | ||||||||
| Indonesia Masters | A | 2R | 2R | A | NH | QF | 1R | 2R | A | 1R | F | 2R | F ('24) | [56] | |||||
| Thailand Masters | NH | A | NH | A | QF | A | QF ('24) | ||||||||||||
| German Open | A | SF | SF | A | SF | SF | NH | w/d | w/d | A | SF ('15, '16, '18, '19) | ||||||||
| All England Open | A | 1R | W | 1R | QF | SF | SF | W | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | W ('16, '21) | [25][46] | |||||
| Swiss Open | A | NH | A | 2R | SF | A | SF ('24) | ||||||||||||
| Taipei Open | A | 1R | QF | A | NH | A | 2R | QF ('15) | |||||||||||
| Thailand Open | A | 1R | QF | A | NH | A | W | w/d | w/d | NH | 2R | A | W ('18) | [32] | |||||
| w/d | |||||||||||||||||||
| Malaysia Masters | A | QF | A | SF | W | A | w/d | QF | QF | NH | QF | A | 2R | W ('15) | [17] | ||||
| Singapore Open | A | QF | 2R | 1R | A | F | NH | A | QF | A | F ('19) | [38] | |||||||
| Indonesia Open | A | 1R | QF | 2R | 2R | QF | NH | A | QF | 1R | 1R | 1R | QF ('16, '19, '22) | ||||||
| U.S. Open | A | W | A | NH | A | 1R | W ('15) | [18] | |||||||||||
| Canada Open | A | SF | W | A | NH | A | w/d | SF | QF | W ('12) | [11] | ||||||||
| Japan Open | A | 2R | 2R | A | W | QF | SF | F | F | NH | w/d | 1R | 2R | A | W ('15) | [21][40] | |||
| China Open | A | 1R | 1R | A | QF | 1R | 1R | SF | 1R | NH | A | SF ('18) | |||||||
| Macau Open | A | NH | A | QF | QF ('25) | ||||||||||||||
| Baoji China Masters | NH | A | 2R | 2R ('25) | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnam Open | A | 2R | A | W | A | NH | A | W ('14) | [14] | ||||||||||
| Hong Kong Open | A | Q2 | F | F | w/d | A | W | QF | NH | 1R | w/d | A | W ('18) | [34] | |||||
| China Masters | A | 2R | A | F | F | NH | QF | A | F ('18, '19) | [36][44] | |||||||||
| Indonesia Masters Super 100 | NH | A | NH | A | QF | A | QF | W ('25 I) | [60] | ||||||||||
| A | W | [63] | |||||||||||||||||
| Kaohsiung Masters | NH | 2R | A | W | W ('25) | [61] | |||||||||||||
| Korea Open | A | QF | w/d | F | W | QF | NH | A | w/d | A | W ('18) | [33] | |||||||
| Arctic Open | A | NH | A | NH | 1R | A | 1R ('23) | ||||||||||||
| Denmark Open | A | 2R | QF | w/d | QF | F | W | A | 2R | 1R | A | W ('20) | [43][45] | ||||||
| Malaysia Super 100 | N/A | A | W | W ('25) | [62] | ||||||||||||||
| French Open | A | QF | w/d | A | 2R | 2R | NH | A | 2R | 1R | 1R | A | QF ('15) | ||||||
| Hylo Open | Q3 | A | QF | A | SF | A | SF ('22) | [48] | |||||||||||
| Korea Masters | 1R | A | W | A | NH | A | 2R | W ('14) | [15] | ||||||||||
| Japan Masters | NH | 1R | A | SF | SF ('25) | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open | A | 1R | 1R | W | A | F | NH | QF | A | W ('17) | [39] | ||||||||
| Syed Modi International | A | SF | NH | A | NH | A | W | A | Q | W ('23) | [51] | ||||||||
| Odisha Masters | NH | A | W | A | W ('23) | [52] | |||||||||||||
| Super Series /Tour Finals | DNQ | W | DNQ | w/d | F | SF | DNQ | W ('15) | [24] | ||||||||||
| New Zealand Open | NH | A | NH | A | W | A | NH | W ('14) | [13] | ||||||||||
| Russian Open | A | SF | A | NH | SF ('14) | ||||||||||||||
| Year-end ranking | 198 | 83 | 31 | 180 | 25 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 26 | 20 | 1 | [42] | ||
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Best | Ref |
| Tournament | BWF Superseries /Grand Prix | Best |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ||
| Japan Open | Q1 | Q1 ('11) |
| Canada Open | 2R | 2R ('11) |
| Year-end ranking | 273 | 261 |
Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of9 July 2024.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||