Yūki Kaneko
Personal information
Country	Japan
Born	(1994-07-22)22 July 1994 (age 31) Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Spouse	Ayaka Takahashi ​ (m. 2020)​
Retired	31 March 2025
Handedness	Left
Coach	Jeremy Gan
Men's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking	7 (MD withTakuto Inoue 12 July 2018) 12 (XD withMisaki Matsutomo 27 December 2022)
Medal record Men'sbadminton Representing Japan Sudirman Cup 2021 Vantaa Mixed team Thomas Cup 2018 Bangkok Men's team Asian Games 2018 Jakarta–Palembang Men's team Asia Mixed Team Championships 2019 Hong Kong Mixed team World Junior Championships 2012 Chiba Boys' doubles 2012 Chiba Mixed team Asian Junior Championships 2012 Gimcheon Mixed team
BWF profile

Yuki Kaneko (金子 祐樹,Kaneko Yūki; born 22 July 1994) is a Japanese formerbadminton player who is currently a doubles coach for theBIPROGY (formerlyUnisys).^[1][2] Primarily competing in men's doubles withTakuto Inoue, Kaneko reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 on 12 July 2018. Together, they won aBWF Grand Prix Gold title at the2017 U.S. Open and aBWF World Tour Super 300 title at the2018 German Open. They also became the first Japanese men's doubles pair since 1982 to reach the final of their home tournament, the2017 Japan Open Super Series, and were runners-up at the2018 Indonesia Open Super 1000.

Kaneko later transitioned to mixed doubles, partneringMisaki Matsutomo, with whom he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 12 on 27 December 2022. Their achievements include being runners-up at the2021 All England Open Super 1000 and the2023 Syed Modi International Super 300. In team competitions, Kaneko earned silver medals at the2021 Sudirman Cup, the2018 Thomas Cup and the2019 Asia Mixed Team Championships, and a bronze medal at the2018 Asian Gamesmen's team event.

During his junior career, Kaneko secured two silver medals at the2012 World Junior Championships inChiba: one inboys' doubles withTakuto Inoue, finishing runners-up to Hong Kong'sLee Chun Hei andNg Ka Long, and another in themixed team event.^[3][4][5] He also contributed to Japan'smixed team gold medal at the2012 Asian Junior Championships inGimcheon.^[6]

Kaneko began his senior career in men's doubles with Takuto Inoue. On the International Challenge circuit, they won their first senior international title at the2013 Romanian International.^[7] They also won the2017 Austrian Open and were runners-up at the2015 Osaka International.^[8][9]

On the BWF Grand Prix circuit, Kaneko and Inoue secured their firstGrand Prix Gold title at the2017 U.S. Open, defeating top-seeded Chinese Taipei pairLu Ching-yao andYang Po-han.^[10][11] They were also runners-up at four other Grand Prix events: the2014 Russia Open,2016 Thailand Open,2017 China Masters, and2017 Dutch Open.^{[12][13][14][15]} During the 2016 Thailand Open, they upset the top-seeded Malaysian pairKoo Kien Keat andTan Boon Heong in the opening round.^[16]

At theBWF Super Series level, Kaneko and Inoue became the first Japanese men's doubles pair since 1982 to reach the final of their home tournament, the2017 Japan Open. They defeated2016 All England Open championsVladimir Ivanov andIvan Sozonov in the semifinals before finishing as runners-up toMarcus Fernaldi Gideon andKevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.^[17][18][19]

With the introduction of theBWF World Tour in 2018, Kaneko and Inoue won their first BWF World Tour title at the2018 German Open Super 300 by defeatingFajar Alfian andMuhammad Rian Ardianto.^[20][21] That same year, they were runners-up at the Super 1000Indonesia Open, once again losing to Gideon and Sukamuljo.^[22][23] The pair achieved their career-high ranking of world No. 7 on 12 July 2018.

Kaneko later transitioned to mixed doubles withMisaki Matsutomo. They finished as runner-up at the2021 All England Open Super 1000, losing to compatriotsYuta Watanabe andArisa Higashino.^[24] They were also runners-up at the2023 Syed Modi International Super 300.^[25] They reached a career-high ranking of world No. 12 on 27 December 2022.

In team competitions, Kaneko earned silver medals at the2021 Sudirman Cup, the2018 Thomas Cup and the2019 Asia Mixed Team Championships, and a bronze medal at the2018 Asian Gamesmen's team event.^[26][27][28]

Kaneko retired from his playing career on 31 March 2025, and subsequently became a doubles coach for his longtime team, BIPROGY.^[29]

In 2020, Kaneko married retired badminton playerAyaka Takahashi, a former teammate on both the Japanese national team and the BIPROGY (formerly Unisys) team. His mixed doubles partner, Misaki Matsutomo, was Takahashi's longtime women's doubles partner.^[30]

Boys' doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2012	Chiba Port Arena,Chiba, Japan	Takuto Inoue	Lee Chun Hei Ng Ka Long	16–21, 17–21	Silver	[4][3]

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[31] 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.^[32]

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	German Open	Super 300	Takuto Inoue	Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto	21–16, 21–18	Winner	[20][21]
2018	Indonesia Open	Super 1000	Takuto Inoue	Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	13–21, 16–21	Runner-up	[22][23]

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2021	All England Open	Super 1000	Misaki Matsutomo	Yuta Watanabe Arisa Higashino	14–21, 13–21	Runner-up	[24]
2023	Syed Modi International	Super 300	Misaki Matsutomo	Dejan Ferdinansyah Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja	22–20, 19–21, 23–25	Runner-up	[25]

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,^[33] 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.^[34] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2017	Japan Open	Takuto Inoue	Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	12–21, 15–21	Runner-up	[18][19]

 BWF Superseries tournament

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.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2014	Russian Open	Takuto Inoue	Kenta Kazuno Kazushi Yamada	21–19, 20–22, 13–21	Runner-up	[12]
2016	Thailand Open	Takuto Inoue	Berry Angriawan Rian Agung Saputro	21–17, 14–21, 18–21	Runner-up	[13]
2017	China Masters	Takuto Inoue	Chen Hung-ling Wang Chi-lin	14–21, 6–21	Runner-up	[14]
2017	U.S. Open	Takuto Inoue	Lu Ching-yao Yang Po-han	15–21, 21–13, 21–13	Winner	[10][11]
2017	Dutch Open	Takuto Inoue	Liao Min-chun Su Cheng-heng	22–24, 18–21	Runner-up	[15]

 BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

 BWF Grand Prix tournament

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2013	Romanian International	Takuto Inoue	Quentin Vincent Sebastien Vincent	21–10, 21–10	Winner	[7]
2015	Osaka International	Takuto Inoue	Kenta Kazuno Kazushi Yamada	9–21, 19–21	Runner-up	[9]
2017	Austrian Open	Takuto Inoue	Frederik Colberg Rasmus Fladberg	21–19, 21–17	Winner	[8]

 BWF International Challenge tournament

 BWF International Series tournament

• Yuki Kaneko atBWFBadminton.com
• Yuki Kaneko at BWFWorldTourFinals.BWFBadminton.com
• Yuki Kaneko atBWF.TournamentSoftware.com (archived,alternate link)
• Yuki Kaneko atBIPROGY(in Japanese)
• Yuki Kaneko atNippon Badminton Association(in Japanese) (archived)
• Yuki Kaneko atJ Sports(in Japanese) (archived)
• Yuki Kaneko at Smash and Net TV(in Japanese)
• Yuki Kaneko – Jakarta Palembang 2018 atTeam Japan(in Japanese) (in English)

• 1994 births
• Living people
• People from Koshigaya, Saitama
• Badminton players from Saitama Prefecture
• Japanese male badminton players
• Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games
• Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan
• Asian Games bronze medalists in badminton
• Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games
• 21st-century Japanese sportsmen

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from February 2023
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Articles with Japanese-language sources (ja)