Wakana Nagahara

Wakana Nagahara
Personal information
CountryJapan
Born (1996-01-09) 9 January 1996
Hokkaido, Japan
ResidenceAkita, Japan
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Retired2 February 2025[1]
HandednessRight
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking1 (WD with Mayu Matsumoto, 30 April 2019)
19 (XD with Takuro Hoki, 9 July 2019)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Japan
World Championships
2018 Nanjing Women's doubles
2019 Basel Women's doubles
2021 Huelva Women's doubles
2022 Tokyo Women's doubles
Sudirman Cup
2019 Nanning Mixed team
2023 Suzhou Mixed team
Uber Cup
2022 Bangkok Women's team
2024 Chengdu Women's team
Asian Championships
2019 Wuhan Women's doubles
2023 Dubai Women's doubles
Asia Team Championships
2020 Manila Women's team
World Junior Championships
2014 Alor Setar Mixed team
Asian Junior Championships
2013 Kota Kinabalu Mixed team
2014 Taipei Mixed team
BWF profile

Wakana Nagahara (永原 和可那, Nagahara Wakana; born 9 January 1996) is a Japanese badminton 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 the 2013, 2014 Asian and 2014 World Junior Championships. She won her first senior international title at the 2014 Smiling Fish International in the women's doubles event partnered with Mayu Matsumoto.[3] In national events, she plays for the Hokuto Bank team.[4] Nagahara was awarded as the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year by the BWF together with her partner Mayu Matsumoto. They obtained the honour after winning the 2018 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.

Career

2021

In March, Nagahara and her partner Mayu Matsumoto won their first World Tour Super 1000 title in the All England Open defeating their compatriots, the defending champion, and current world number 1, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the final.[6] She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnering Matsumoto as 3rd seeds, and her pace was stopped by Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea in the quarter-finals.[7]

Awards and nominations

Award Year Category Result Ref.
BWF Awards 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year with Mayu Matsumoto Won [8]

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2018 Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima
Sayaka Hirota 		19–21, 21–19, 22–20 Gold
2019 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima
Sayaka Hirota 		21–11, 20–22, 23–21 Gold [9]
2021 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen
Jia Yifan 		15–21, 12–21 Bronze
2022 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen
Jia Yifan 		13–21, 14–21 Bronze

Asian Championships

Women's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium,
Wuhan, China 		Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen
Jia Yifan 		21–19, 14–21, 19–21 Silver
2023 Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall,
Dubai, United Arab Emirates 		Mayu Matsumoto Baek Ha-na
Lee So-hee 		21–16, 8–21, 13–21 Bronze

BWF World Tour (5 titles, 10 runners-up)

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 the Badminton 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 Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima
Sayaka Hirota 		14–21, 21–16, 14–21 Runner-up
2018 Spain Masters Super 300 Mayu Matsumoto Ayako Sakuramoto
Yukiko Takahata 		21–17, 21–13 Winner
2018 China Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Misaki Matsutomo
Ayaka Takahashi 		16–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2018 French Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Gabriela Stoeva
Stefani Stoeva 		21–14, 21–19 Winner
2018 Fuzhou China Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Lee So-hee
Shin Seung-chan 		21–23, 18–21 Runner-up
2019 All England Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen
Jia Yifan 		21–18, 20–22, 11–21 Runner-up
2019 Singapore Open Super 500 Mayu Matsumoto Kim Hye-jeong
Kong Hee-yong 		21–17, 22–20 Winner
2019 Japan Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Kim So-yeong
Kong Hee-yong 		12–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2019 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen
Jia Yifan 		14–21, 10–21 Runner-up
2020 Denmark Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima
Sayaka Hirota 		10–21, 21–16, 18–21 Runner-up
2021 All England Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima
Sayaka Hirota 		21–18, 21–16 Winner
2022 Thailand Open Super 500 Mayu Matsumoto Nami Matsuyama
Chiharu Shida 		21–17, 15–21, 24–26 Runner-up
2022 French Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Pearly Tan
Thinaah Muralitharan 		19–21, 21–18, 15–21 Runner-up
2023 Canada Open Super 500 Mayu Matsumoto Nami Matsuyama
Chiharu Shida 		20–22, 16–21 Runner-up
2024 India Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Zhang Shuxian
Zheng Yu 		21–12, 21–13 Winner

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 4 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2014 Russian Open Mayu Matsumoto Yuriko Miki
Koharu Yonemoto 		17–21, 7–21 Runner-up [12]
2016 U.S. Open Mayu Matsumoto Shiho Tanaka
Koharu Yonemoto 		22–20, 15–21, 19–21 Runner-up [13]
2016 Thailand Open Mayu Matsumoto Puttita Supajirakul
Sapsiree Taerattanachai 		12–21, 17–21 Runner-up [14]
2017 Canada Open Mayu Matsumoto Chisato Hoshi
Naru Shinoya 		21–16, 16–21, 21–18 Winner [15][16]
2017 U.S. Open Mayu Matsumoto Lee So-hee
Shin Seung-chan 		16–21, 13–21 Runner-up [17]

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2016 U.S. Open Yugo Kobayashi Robert Mateusiak
Nadieżda Zięba 		21–16, 21–18 Winner [13]
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 title)

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2014 Smiling Fish International Mayu Matsumoto Pacharapun Chochuwong
Chanisa Teachavorasinskun 		21–17, 21–11 Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

Performance timeline

Key
W F SF QF #R RR Q# A G S B NH N/A DNQ
(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze medal; (NH) not held; (N/A) not applicable; (DNQ) did not qualify.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

National team

  • Junior level
Team events 2013 2014
Asian Junior Championships B B
World Junior Championships 4th B
  • Senior level
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

Individual competitions

Senior level

Women's doubles
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
Tournament BWF Superseries / Grand Prix BWF World Tour Best Ref
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Malaysia Open A QF QF NH SF A 2R SF ('22)
India Open A NH A W W ('24)
Indonesia Masters A NH A SF 2R A w/d w/d SF ('19)
German Open A 2R SF NH w/d QF A SF ('19)
French Open A SF W SF NH A F SF SF W ('18)
All England Open A SF F QF W w/d QF 1R W ('21)
Spain Masters NH W A NH A W ('18)
Thailand Open NH A F A QF QF w/d NH F A F ('16, '22)
w/d
Malaysia Masters A 1R A SF w/d NH 2R SF A SF ('19, '23)
Singapore Open A W NH A QF QF W ('19)
Indonesia Open A F QF NH A 1R SF SF F ('18)
Australian Open A QF NH QF QF A QF ('19, '22, '23)
U.S. Open A 1R F F A NH A F ('16, '17) [13][17]
Canada Open A QF A W A NH A F A W ('17)
Japan Open A 1R 1R 1R QF F NH QF SF 1R F ('19)
Korea Open A QF QF 2R NH A SF Ret. SF ('23)
Chinese Taipei Open 2R 1R A SF A NH A SF ('17)
Hong Kong Open A QF 1R SF NH QF SF ('19)
China Open A F 2R NH QF F ('18)
Macau Open A QF A NH QF ('17)
Denmark Open A 1R SF F A 1R SF F ('20)
Korea Masters A QF A NH A QF ('16)
Japan Masters NH SF SF ('23)
China Masters A 2R 1R F SF NH QF F ('18)
Superseries /
World Tour Finals 		DNQ SF F DNQ w/d F ('19)
New Zealand Open A 2R 2R A QF NH QF ('19)
Russian Open F w/d A NH F ('14)
Year-end ranking 101 94 32 14 3 3 3 5 8 9 — 1
Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Best
Mixed doubles
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

References

  1. ^ "[Badminton] "My current thoughts are 'happiness'" Wakana Nagahara, grateful after finishing her last match as an active player to compete in the Olympics as "Nagamatsu"" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 3 February 2025. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Players: Wakana Nagahara". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. ^ "永原 和可那/ Wakana Nagahara". Smash-net.tv (in Japanese). TMONY Japan Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Wakana Nagahara 永原 和可那 No. 2". Hokuto Badminton Club (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  5. ^ Hearn, Don (11 December 2018). "Big winners awarded on BWF's 'Night of Nights'". Badzine. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  6. ^ Sukumar, Dev; Pierre, Dianne (22 March 2021). "All England: Watanabe's Double the Highlight of Japan's Sweep". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Badminton - NAGAHARA Wakana". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  8. ^ Sukumar, Dev (11 December 2018). "Year-End Honours for Minions, Huang Yaqiong". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Momota, Nagahara, Matsumoto become Japan's 1st repeat badminton world champs". Kyodo News+. 26 August 2019. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  10. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  11. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Ivanov is the 2014 Russian Open singles champion". National Badminton Federation of Russia (in Russian). 27 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  13. ^ a b c Sukumar, Dev (11 July 2016). "Boe/Mogensen Claim Gold – Yonex US Open Review". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  14. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (10 October 2016). "Ohori Takes Thai Title – SCG Thailand Open Review". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  15. ^ "[Canada Open GP] Men's Singles: Tsuneyama defeats Momota!!! Japanese players win three events!" (in Japanese). SMASH and NET.TV. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  16. ^ Liew, Vincent (17 July 2017). "Kento Momota loses to Kanta Tsuneyama in Canada Open final". BadmintonPlanet.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  17. ^ a b Sukumar, Dev (24 July 2017). "Prannoy, Ohori Claim Singles Titles – Yonex US Open: Review". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 15 December 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
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