Wakana Nagahara

The native form of this personal name is Nagahara Wakana. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Wakana Nagahara (永原 和可那, Nagahara Wakana, born 9 January 1996) is a Japanese badminton player.^[1] 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.^[2] In national events, she plays for the Hokuto Bank team.^[3] 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.^[4] On 30 April 2019, she reached a career high as the women's doubles world No. 1.

Wakana Nagahara 永原 和可那
Personal information
Country	Japan
Born	(1996-01-09) 9 January 1996 (age 28) Hokkaido, Japan
Residence	Akita, Akita, Japan
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Handedness	Right
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking	1 (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

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
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
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,^[7] 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.^[8]

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

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	U.S. Open	Yugo Kobayashi	Robert Mateusiak Nadieżda Zięba	21–16, 21–18	Winner

  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
Asian Championships	A	S	NH		A	B	QF
World Championships	G	G	NH	B	B	3R	NH
Olympic Games	NH		QF	NH			RR

Tournament	BWF Superseries / Grand Prix				BWF World Tour							Best
	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)
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. "Players: Wakana Nagahara". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
2. "永原 和可那/ Wakana Nagahara". Smash-net.tv (in Japanese). TMONY Japan Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
3. "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.
4. Hearn, Don (11 December 2018). "Big winners awarded on BWF's 'Night of Nights'". Badzine. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
5. 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.
6. "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.
7. 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.
8. Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.

External links

• Wakana Nagahara at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com
• Wakana Nagahara at BWFBadminton.com