Nozomi Okuhara

Nozomi Okuhara (奥原 希望, Okuhara Nozomi, born 13 March 1995) is a Japanese badminton 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 the 2016 Summer Olympics,^[3] and gold medal at the 2017 World Championships.^[4]

Nozomi Okuhara
Okuhara at 2017 Australia Open.
Personal information
Country	Japan
Born	(1995-03-13) 13 March 1995 (age 29) Ōmachi, Nagano, Japan[1]
Height	1.56 m (5 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight	52 kg (115 lb)[2]
Handedness	Right[2]
Women's singles
Career record	387 wins, 144 losses
Highest ranking	1 (29 October 2019)
Current ranking	30 (18 February 2025)
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  Japan Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Women's singles World Championships 2017 Glasgow Women's singles 2019 Basel Women's singles Sudirman Cup 2015 Dongguan Mixed team 2019 Nanning Mixed team 2017 Gold Coast Mixed team Uber Cup 2018 Bangkok Women's team 2016 Kunshan Women's team 2022 Bangkok Women's team 2024 Chengdu Women's team Asian Games 2018 Jakarta–Palembang Women's team Asia Team Championships 2018 Alor Setar Women's team 2016 Hyderabad Women's team 2024 Selangor Women's team World Junior Championships 2012 Chiba Girls' singles 2012 Chiba Mixed team 2011 Taipei Girls' singles Asian Junior Championships 2012 Gimcheon Mixed team 2012 Gimcheon Girls' singles
BWF profile

Career

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.

2010–2012

In 2010, Okuhara reached the final of Lao International which she lost to Nitchaon Jindapol.^[5] The 16-year-old Okuhara became the youngest women's singles champion ever at the Japanese 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.

Okuhara was a runner-up at the Asian Junior Championships,^[7] and helped her team in winning the mixed team title. She later clinched the gold medal at the World Junior Championships,^[8] having won bronze one year earlier at the 2011 BWF World Junior Championships. In July, she won her first Grand Prix title at the Canada Open.

2013–2014

In 2013, while competing in her quarterfinal match against Saina Nehwal at Malaysia Open, she suffered a severe knee injury in the 3rd game and remained out of International circuit for almost a year.^[9] 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.^[10] She also won the Vietnam Open^[11] and Korean Grand Prix titles.^[12] She reached her first Superseries final at the Hong Kong Open in year end. On her way to the final, she defeated Reigning World Champion Carolina Marín in the semifinal in 2 very one-sided games. However, she finished second to Tai Tzu-ying in the finals.^[13]

2015

Okuhara won two Grand Prix Gold titles at Malaysia^[14] and United States.^[15] In both occasions, she got the better of her compatriots Sayaka Takahashi and Sayaka Sato respectively. She also won China International event.^[16] At the Malaysian Superseries event, she played the longest ever Women's singles match against Wang Shixian in quarterfinal which lasted for whopping 111 minutes.^[17] 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 at Japan Open in the final defeating her colleague Akane Yamaguchi with score of 21–18, 21–12.^[18] At the World Championships in Jakarta seeded 9th, she failed to get past Thai Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in 1st round having lost to her twice before.^[19] 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.^[20] At the end of the 2015 BWF season, she won the Dubai 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 beat Wang Yihan 22–20, 21–18.^[21]

2016–2017

In 2016, she won the prestigious All England Open on her Birthday after defeating Wang 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 since Hiroe Yuki's triumph back in 1977.^[22] She was seeded 6th for Rio Olympic Games. She defeated Akane Yamaguchi in quarterfinal 11–21, 21–17, 21–10 and reached the semis. Her opponent for semifinal was No. 9 seed P. V. Sindhu. Okuhara had no answers to Indian's attacking play and she went down in 2-straight games 19–21, 10–21.^[23] In the bronze medal match she was given walkover against Li 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.^[24]

In 2017, Okuhara claimed her first ever Australian Open title with a win over Akane Yamaguchi.^[25] Continuing her good form, she participated at the World Championships seeded 7th. After defeating Canada's Rachel Honderich and teammate Aya Ohori, she had an uphill task against Carolina 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 over Saina 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 which P. V. Sindhu managed to beat Okuhara.^[26] 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.

2018

In May, Okuhara helped Japan to win the Uber Cup again after 37 years. Japan beat Thailand by 3–0 in the final and Okuhara didn't lose any of her matches.^[27] She went to World 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.^[28] She won her first ever World Tour Title, the Thailand Open Super 500 by defeating P. V. Sindhu 21–15 and 18.^[29] In addition, she reached five more finals and won 2 of them in Korea^[30] and Hong Kong,^[31] both Super 500 events. Her final finishes were in Japan Super 750 (lost to Carolina Marín)^[32] Fuzhou Super 750 events (lost to Chen Yufei)^[33] and World Tour Finals in Guangzhou to P. V. Sindhu.^[34]

2019–20

Okuhara reached the final of Singapore Open, but lost it to Tai Tzu-ying.^[35] Also, she reached the final of Australia Open^[36] & Japan Open^[37] but lost to Chen Yufei and Akane Yamaguchi respectively. In the World Championships, she was seeded 3rd. She defeated He Bingjiao and Ratchanok 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.^[38] She succeeded in occupying the Ranking 1 of the world shifting Tai Tzu-ying on 29 October 2019.^[39] She also contested the Denmark Open final, which she lost to Tai Tzu-ying with 17–21, 14–21 scores.^[40] She was the runner-up in 6th straight tournament, after her defeat in the hands of Chen Yufei in Fuzhou China Open with the scores 21–9, 12–21, 18–21.^[41] 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.^[42]

2021

She won her second England Open title after her last in 2016 by beating Pornpawee Chochuwong from Thailand. She defeated her opponent in two games 21–12, 21–16.^[43]

Achievements

Olympic Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2016	Riocentro – Pavilion 4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Li Xuerui	Walkover	Bronze	[3]

BWF World Championships

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2017	Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland	P. V. Sindhu	21–19, 20–22, 22–20	Gold	[4]
2019	St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland	P. V. Sindhu	7–21, 7–21	Silver	[38]

BWF World Junior Championships

Girls' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2011	Taoyuan Arena, Taoyuan, Taiwan	Ratchanok Intanon	16–21, 16–21	Bronze
2012	Chiba Port Arena, Chiba, Japan	Akane Yamaguchi	21–12, 21–9	Gold

Asian Junior Championships

Girls' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
2012	Gimcheon Indoor Stadium, Gimcheon, South Korea	P. V. Sindhu	21–18, 17–21, 20–22	Silver

BWF World Tour (7 titles, 9 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[44] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton 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.^[45]

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Thailand Open	Super 500	P. V. Sindhu	21–15, 21–18	Winner
2018	Japan Open	Super 750	Carolina Marín	19–21, 21–17, 11–21	Runner-up
2018	Korea Open	Super 500	Beiwen Zhang	21–10, 17–21, 21–16	Winner
2018	Fuzhou China Open	Super 750	Chen Yufei	10–21, 16–21	Runner-up
2018	Hong Kong Open	Super 500	Ratchanok Intanon	21–19, 24–22	Winner
2018	BWF World Tour Finals	World Tour Finals	P. V. Sindhu	19–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2019	Singapore Open	Super 500	Tai Tzu-ying	19–21, 15–21	Runner-up	[35]
2019	Australian Open	Super 300	Chen Yufei	15–21, 3–21	Runner-up	[36]
2019	Japan Open	Super 750	Akane Yamaguchi	13–21, 15–21	Runner-up	[37]
2019	Denmark Open	Super 750	Tai Tzu-ying	17–21, 14–21	Runner-up	[40]
2019	Fuzhou China Open	Super 750	Chen Yufei	21–9, 12–21, 18–21	Runner-up
2020	Denmark Open	Super 750	Carolina Marín	21–19, 21–17	Winner	[42]
2021	All England Open	Super 1000	Pornpawee Chochuwong	21–12, 21–16	Winner	[43]
2023	Syed Modi International	Super 300	Line Kjærsfeldt	21–19, 21–16	Winner
2023	Odisha Masters	Super 100	Lo Sin Yan	21–7, 21–23, 22–20	Winner
2024	Indonesia Masters	Super 500	Wang Zhiyi	14–21, 13–21	Runner-up

BWF Superseries (4 titles, 3 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,^[46] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011.^[47] 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
2014	Hong Kong Open	Tai Tzu-ying	19–21, 11–21	Runner-up
2015	Japan Open	Akane Yamaguchi	21–18, 21–12	Winner
2015	Hong Kong Open	Carolina Marín	17–21, 21–18, 20–22	Runner-up
2015	Dubai World Superseries Finals	Wang Yihan	22–20, 21–18	Winner
2016	All England Open	Wang Shixian	21–11, 16–21, 21–19	Winner
2017	Australian Open	Akane Yamaguchi	21–12, 21–23, 21–17	Winner
2017	Korea Open	P. V. Sindhu	20–22, 21–11, 18–21	Runner-up

  BWF Superseries Finals tournament

  BWF Superseries Premier tournament

  BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (6 titles)

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

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2012	Canada Open	Sayaka Takahashi	21–8, 21–16	Winner
2014	New Zealand Open	Kana Ito	21–15, 21–3	Winner
2014	Vietnam Open	Aya Ohori	21–15, 21–11	Winner
2014	Korea Grand Prix	Sayaka Sato	21–17, 21–13	Winner
2015	Malaysia Masters	Sayaka Takahashi	21–13, 21–17	Winner
2015	U.S. Open	Sayaka Sato	21–16, 21–14	Winner

  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Lao International	Nitchaon Jindapol	16–21, 17–21	Runner-up
2011	Austrian International	Mayu Sekiya	21–6, 21–16	Winner
2015	China International	Chen Yufei	21–19, 21–16	Winner

  BWF International Challenge 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.

Career overview

Singles Played Wins Losses Balance Total 428 325 103 +222 Current year (2021) 5 5 0 +5

Doubles Played Wins Losses Balance Total 3 1 2 -1 Current year (2021) 0 0 0 0

National team

Junior level

Events	2011	2012
Asian Junior Championships	QF	G
World Junior Championships	5th	S

Senior level

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	DNP	NH	B	NH	B
Sudirman Cup	S	NH	B	NH	S	NH	DNP	NH	DNP	NH

Individual competitions

Junior level

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

Senior level

Women's singles

Events	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Ref
Asian Championships	1R	A		3R	QF	1R	1R	QF	NH		1R	A	1R
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	[4][38]
Olympic Games	DNQ	NH			B	NH			QF	NH			DNQ	[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
Malaysia Open	A			QF	A	QF	2R	SF	2R	SF	NH		QF	1R	A	1R	SF ('17, '19)	[9][17]
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)
Thailand Masters	NH						A					NH		A	QF		QF ('24)
German Open	A					SF	SF	A	SF	SF	NH		w/d	w/d	A		SF ('15, '16, '18, '19)
French Open	A					QF	w/d	A	2R	2R	NH	A	2R	1R	1R		QF ('15)
All England Open	A					1R	W	1R	QF	SF	SF	W	QF	1R	1R		W ('16, '21)	[43]
Swiss Open	A										NH	A		2R	SF		SF ('24)
Thailand Open	A	1R	QF	A	NH	A			W	w/d	w/d	NH	2R	A			W ('18)
											w/d
Malaysia Masters	A		QF	A	SF	W	A		w/d	QF	QF	NH	QF	A			W ('15)
Singapore Open	A					QF	2R	1R	A	F	NH		A		QF		F ('19)	[35]
Indonesia Open	A					1R	QF	2R	2R	QF	NH	A	QF	1R	1R		QF ('16, '19, '22)
Australian Open	A					1R	1R	W	A	F	NH		QF	A			W ('17)	[36]
Kaohsiung Masters	NH													2R	A		2R ('23)
U.S. Open	A					W	A				NH			A			W ('15)
Canada Open	A	SF	W	A							NH		A	w/d	SF		W ('12)
Japan Open	A	2R	2R	A		W	QF	SF	F	F	NH		w/d	1R	2R		W ('15)	[37]
Korea Open	A					QF	w/d	F	W	QF	NH		A		w/d		W ('18)
Indonesia Masters Super 100	NH								A		NH		A	QF	A		QF ('23)
Chinese Taipei Open	A				1R	QF	A				NH		A				QF ('15)
Vietnam Open	A		2R	A	W	A					NH		A				W ('14)
Hong Kong Open	A		Q2		F	F	w/d	A	W	QF	NH			1R	w/d		W ('18)
China Open	A		1R	1R	A	QF	1R	1R	SF	1R	NH			A			SF ('18)
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)	[40][42]
Hylo Open	Q3	A				QF	A						SF	A			SF ('22)
Korea Masters	1R	A			W	A					NH		A				W ('14)
Japan Masters	NH													1R	A		1R ('23)
China Masters	A		2R	A					F	F	NH			QF	A		F ('18, '19)
Syed Modi International	A		SF	NH	A						NH		A	W	A		W ('23)
Odisha Masters	NH											A		W	A		W ('23)
Super Series / Tour Finals	DNQ					W	DNQ	w/d	F	SF	DNQ						W ('15)
New Zealand Open	NH	A	NH	A	W	A					NH						W ('14)
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	[39]
Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Best	Ref

Mixed doubles

Tournament	BWF Superseries / Grand Prix	Best
	2011
Japan Open	Q1	Q1 ('11)
Canada Open	2R	2R ('11)
Year-end ranking	273	261

Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 9 July 2024.

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Chen Yufei 14 4 10 –6 He Bingjiao 14 9 5 +4 Li Xuerui 6 4 2 +2 Wang Shixian 4 2 2 0 Wang Yihan 6 3 3 0 Zhang Yiman 2 1 1 0 Cheng Shao-chieh 1 0 1 –1 Tai Tzu-ying 15 6 9 –3 Pi Hongyan 1 0 1 –1 Yip Pui Yin 6 5 1 +4 Saina Nehwal 14 5 9 –4 P. V. Sindhu 20 9 11 –2

Players Matches Results Difference Won Lost Lindaweni Fanetri 6 4 2 +2 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 8 5 3 +2 Minatsu Mitani 4 4 0 +4 Akane Yamaguchi 19 11 8 +3 Aya Ohori 13 10 3 +7 An Se-young 3 0 3 -3 Bae Yeon-ju 4 3 1 +2 Sung Ji-hyun 10 6 4 +2 Carolina Marín 17 8 9 –1 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 5 1 4 –3 Ratchanok Intanon 18 12 6 +6