| Wakana Nagahara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-01-09)9 January 1996 (age 29) Memuro,Hokkaido, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Akita, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2 February 2025[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handedness | Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's & mixed doubles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 1 (WD withMayu Matsumoto, 30 April 2019) 19 (XD withTakuro Hoki, 9 July 2019) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| BWF profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wakana Nagahara (永原 和可那,Nagahara Wakana; born 9 January 1996) is a Japanesebadminton player.[2] She is a two-time world champion in the women's doubles. Nagahara attended Aomori Yamada High School, and was part of the Japanese national junior team that won the bronze medals at the2013,2014 Asian and2014 World Junior Championships. She won her first senior international title at the 2014Smiling Fish International in the women's doubles event partnered withMayu Matsumoto.[3] In national events, she plays for theHokuto Bank team.[4] Nagahara was awarded as the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year by theBWF together with her partnerMayu Matsumoto. They obtained the honour after winning the2018 BWF World Championships title and improving their ranking from 14 to 3 in the world.[5] On 30 April 2019, she reached a career high as the women's doubles world No. 1.
In March, Nagahara and her partnerMayu Matsumoto won their first World Tour Super 1000 title in theAll England Open defeating their compatriots, the defending champion, and current world number 1,Yuki Fukushima andSayaka Hirota in the final.[6] She competed at the2020 Summer Olympics partnering Matsumoto as 3rd seeds, and her pace was stopped byKim So-yeong andKong Hee-yong of South Korea in the quarter-finals.[7]
| Award | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BWF Awards | 2018 | Most Improved Player of the Year withMayu Matsumoto | Won | [8] |
Women's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park,Nanjing, China | 19–21, 21–19, 22–20 | Gold | |||
| 2019 | St. Jakobshalle,Basel, Switzerland | 21–11, 20–22, 23–21 | Gold | [9] | ||
| 2021 | Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín,Huelva, Spain | 15–21, 12–21 | Bronze | |||
| 2022 | Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium,Tokyo, Japan | 13–21, 14–21 | Bronze |
Women's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China | 21–19, 14–21, 19–21 | Silver | ||
| 2023 | Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 21–16, 8–21, 13–21 | Bronze |
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[10] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is 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.[11]
Women's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Indonesia Open | Super 1000 | 14–21, 21–16, 14–21 | |||
| 2018 | Spain Masters | Super 300 | 21–17, 21–13 | |||
| 2018 | China Open | Super 1000 | 16–21, 12–21 | |||
| 2018 | French Open | Super 750 | 21–14, 21–19 | |||
| 2018 | Fuzhou China Open | Super 750 | 21–23, 18–21 | |||
| 2019 | All England Open | Super 1000 | 21–18, 20–22, 11–21 | |||
| 2019 | Singapore Open | Super 500 | 21–17, 22–20 | |||
| 2019 | Japan Open | Super 750 | 12–21, 12–21 | |||
| 2019 | BWF World Tour Finals | World Tour Finals | 14–21, 10–21 | |||
| 2020 | Denmark Open | Super 750 | 10–21, 21–16, 18–21 | |||
| 2021 | All England Open | Super 1000 | 21–18, 21–16 | |||
| 2022 | Thailand Open | Super 500 | 21–17, 15–21, 24–26 | |||
| 2022 | French Open | Super 750 | 19–21, 21–18, 15–21 | |||
| 2023 | Canada Open | Super 500 | 20–22, 16–21 | |||
| 2024 | India Open | Super 750 | 21–12, 21–13 |
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, theGrand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.
Women's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Russian Open | 17–21, 7–21 | [12] | |||
| 2016 | U.S. Open | 22–20, 15–21, 19–21 | [13] | |||
| 2016 | Thailand Open | 12–21, 17–21 | [14] | |||
| 2017 | Canada Open | 21–16, 16–21, 21–18 | [15][16] | |||
| 2017 | U.S. Open | 16–21, 13–21 | [17] |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | U.S. Open | 21–16, 21–18 | [13] |
Women's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Smiling Fish International | 21–17, 21–11 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | G | S | B | NH | N/A | DNQ |
| Team events | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Junior Championships | B | B |
| World Junior Championships | 4th | B |
| Team events | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Team Championships | NH | G | NH | A | NH | A |
| Uber Cup | NH | A | NH | B | NH | B |
| Sudirman Cup | S | NH | DNP | NH | B | NH |
| Events | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Championships | A | S | NH | A | B | QF | ||
| World Championships | G | G | NH | B | B | 3R | NH | [9] |
| Olympic Games | NH | QF | NH | RR | [18] | |||
| Events | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Asian Championships | 2R |
| World Championships | 3R |
| Tournament | SS /GP | BWF World Tour | Best | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | ||
| Malaysia Masters | A | 2R | QF | QF ('20) | ||
| Indonesia Masters | A | NH | A | QF | 1R | QF ('19) |
| German Open | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('19) | ||
| All England Open | A | 1R | 1R | 1R ('19, '20) | ||
| Singapore Open | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('19) | ||
| Australian Open | A | 2R | NH | 2R ('19) | ||
| U.S. Open | W | SF | A | NH | W ('16) | |
| Canada Open | A | SF | A | NH | SF ('17) | |
| Korea Open | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('19) | ||
| China Open | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('19) | ||
| Japan Open | 1R | 1R | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('16, '17, '19) |
| Denmark Open | A | 1R | 2R | w/d | 2R ('19) | |
| French Open | A | QF | QF | NH | QF ('18, '19) | |
| Fuzhou China Open | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | NH | 2R ('18) |
| Hong Kong Open | A | QF | 2R | NH | QF ('18) | |
| Indonesia Open | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('19) | ||
| Malaysia Open | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('19) | ||
| Thailand Open | A | 1R | w/d | 1R ('19) | ||
| w/d | ||||||
| Year-end ranking | 122 | 94 | 64 | 25 | 25 | 19 |
| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | Best |