Nozomi Okuhara
Nozomi Okuhara is a Japanese badminton player and the former World's No. 1 in BWF rankings for the women's singles, well known for her speed, agility and endurance. She won a bronze at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and gold medal at the 2017 World Championships.
Career summary
Okuhara started playing badminton since 2002. Eight years later, precisely in 2010 she joined the Japanese national team. The 2010 Osaka International Challenge became her international debut.2011
In 2011, the 16-year-old Okuhara became the youngest women's singles champion ever at the Japanese National Badminton Championships.2012
Okuhara was a runner-up at the Asian Junior Championships, and helps the team won the mixed team title. She later clinched the gold medal at the World Junior Championships, 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
In 2013, she suffered a severe knee injury and was absent from an international tournament for 1 year.2015
In 2015, Okuhara won first Superseries title at Japan Open in the final defeating her great colleague Akane Yamaguchi with a score of 21–18, 21–12. At the end of the 2015 BWF season, she won the Dubai Superseries final where in the preliminary round and semifinals she succeeded in defeating world number 1 player Carolina Marin and in the final she beat Wang Yihan with a score of 22–20, 21–18.2016
In 2016, she won the prestigious All England Open 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 the past 39 years. She won the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She lost to P.V. Sindhu in the semi-finals, but won the bronze medal match against Li Xuerui of China in a walkover.2017
At the 2017 BWF World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Okuhara reached the finals after back-to-back wins against both finalists from the 2015 BWF World Championships, Carolina Marín of Spain and Saina Nehwal of India. In a hard-fought final, featuring the longest match of the entire tournament, Okuhara then defeated P. V. Sindhu, winning by 21–19, 20–22, 22–20 in almost 2 hours.2018
Okuhara started the year after coming back from knee injury. She reached the quarterfinals of All England Open but was defeated by her long-time rival P. V. Sindhu of India in three games.In May, Okuhara helped Japan to win the Uber Cup after Japan beat Thailand by 3–0 in the final. Okuhara didn't lose any of her match in Uber cup.
Okuhara went to World Championships in Nanjing as defending champion but could not defend her title of 2017 after she lost to the player she beat in 2017 final P. V. Sindhu in 2 straight games in quarterfinals.
At that year, she reached five finals and won 3 among them: Thailand, Korea, and Hong Kong Opens. She completed the year ranked as number 2 in race to Guangzhou rankings and qualified for World Tour Finals. At the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals in Tianhe, Guangzhou, China, Okuhara reached the finals but lost in straight games, 19–21, 17–21, to P. V. Sindhu of India.
2019
In August, Okuhara had to settle for a silver medal at the 2019 BWF World Championships held in Basel, Switzerland after losing the World title to P.V. Sindhu of India with a score of 7–21, 7–21 in 36 minutes of the match. She succeeded in occupying the Ranking 1 of the world shifting Tai Tzu-ying on 29 October 2019.She also contested the Denmark Open final, where she lost to Tai Tzu-ying with 17–21, 14–21 scores. 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. 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.
2020
Okuhara started the season as the quarter-finalists in Malaysia Masters after getting unexpected defeat from Chinese He Bingjiao 17–21, 10–21. Competed as the third seeds at the Indonesia Masters, she suffered an early upset had beaten by Carolina Marín in the second round with a score of 13–21, 15–21. In March, she stopped in the semi-finals of All England Open to world number 1 Chen Yufei in a close straight games.Achievements
Olympic Games
Women's singles| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2016 | Riocentro – Pavilion 4, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Li Xuerui | Walkover | Bronze |
BWF World Championships
Women's singles| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2019 | St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland |  P. V. Sindhu | 7–21, 7–21 | Silver |
| 2017 | Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | P. V. Sindhu | 21–19, 20–22, 22–20 | Gold |
BWF World Junior Championships
Girls' singles| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2012 | Chiba Port Arena, Chiba, Japan |  Akane Yamaguchi | 21–12, 21–9 | Gold |
| 2011 | Taoyuan Arena, Taoyuan& Taipei, Chinese Taipei |  Ratchanok Inthanon | 16–21, 16–21 | Bronze |
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 (3 titles, 8 runners-up)
The BWF World Tour, announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. The BWF World Tour are divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2019 | Fuzhou China Open | Super 750 | Chen Yufei | 21–9, 12–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Denmark Open | Super 750 |  Tai Tzu-ying | 17–21, 14–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Japan Open | Super 750 | Akane Yamaguchi | 13–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Australian Open | Super 300 | Chen Yufei | 15–21, 3–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Singapore Open | Super 500 | Tai Tzu-ying | 19–21, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | BWF World Tour Finals | World Tour Finals | P. V. Sindhu | 19–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Hong Kong Open | Super 500 | Ratchanok Intanon | 21–19, 24–22 | Winner |
| 2018 | Fuzhou China Open | Super 750 | Chen Yufei | 10–21, 16–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Korea Open | Super 500 |  Zhang Beiwen | 21–10, 17–21, 21–16 | Winner |
| 2018 | Japan Open | Super 750 |  Carolina Marín | 19–21, 21–17, 11–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Thailand Open | Super 500 | P. V. Sindhu | 21–15, 21–18 | Winner |
BWF Superseries (4 titles, 3 runners-up)
The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. BWF Superseries has two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2017 | Korea Open | P. V. Sindhu | 22–20, 11–21, 21–18 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Australian Open | Akane Yamaguchi | 21–12, 21–23, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2016 | All England Open | Wang Shixian | 21–11, 16–21, 21–19 | Winner |
| 2015 | World Superseries Finals | Wang Yihan | 22–20, 21–18 | Winner |
| 2015 | Hong Kong Open | Carolina Marín | 17–21, 21–18, 20–22 | Runner-up |
| 2015 | Japan Open | Akane Yamaguchi | 21–18, 21–12 | Winner |
| 2014 | Hong Kong Open | Tai Tzu-ying | 19–21, 11–21 | Runner-up |
BWF Grand Prix (6 titles)
The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation since 2007.Women's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2015 | U.S. Open | Sayaka Sato | 21–16, 21–14 | Winner |
| 2015 | Malaysia Masters | Sayaka Takahashi | 21–13, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2014 | Korea Masters | Sayaka Sato | 21–17, 21–13 | Winner |
| 2014 | Vietnam Open | Aya Ohori | 21–15, 21–11 | Winner |
| 2014 | New Zealand Open | Kana Ito | 21–15, 21–3 | Winner |
| 2012 | Canada Open | Sayaka Takahashi | 21–8, 21–16 | Winner |
BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Women's singles| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2015 | China International | Chen Yufei | 21–19, 21–16 | Winner |
| 2011 | Austrian International | Mayu Sekiya | 21–6, 21–16 | Winner |
| 2010 | Lao International | Nitchaon Jindapol | 16–21, 17–21 | Runner-up |
Career overview
| Singles | Played | Wins | Losses | Balance |
| Total | 415 | 312 | 103 | +209 |
| Current year | 9 | 6 | 3 | +3 |
| Doubles | Played | Wins | Losses | Balance |
| Total | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| Current year | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |