Yuta Watanabe (badminton)


Yuta Watanabe is a badminton player from Japan. He was a member of the Nihon Unisys team, and national team A representative. Watanabe has collected three bronze medals at the World Junior Championships, and also four bronze at the Asian Junior Championships. Watanabe was selected to join the Japanese mixed team compete at the 2017 Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia, winning a gold medal in the qualification to Gold Coast at the 2017 Asia Mixed Team Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and the team finished in the semi-final round, took the bronze medal. The left-handed Watanabe won the maiden Super 1000 tournament at the 2018 All England Open in the mixed doubles event partnered with Arisa Higashino.

Career overview

Watanabe started his career in badminton when he join the Kodaira junior club in Tokyo in 2005. He had shown his talent in badminton when he won some national event when he was in the elementary school. He made a partnership with Arisa Higashino as his senior in Tomioka Dai-ichi Junior High School in 2012.
Watanabe was selected to join national junior team competed at the 2014 Asian Junior Championships, and helps the team won the mixed team bronze medal. He also settled for another bronze medal in the boys' doubles event partnered with Kenya Mitsuhashi. At the World Junior Championships in Alor Setar, Malaysia, he won the bronze medals in the mixed doubles event with Arisa Higashino and in the mixed team event. In June 2014, he made his first appearance in the senior international event at the Japan Open, competed in the mixed doubles with Higashino, but the duo was defeated in the first round. He captured two titles at the 2014 Korea Junior Open in the boys' and mixed doubles event teamed-up with Mitsuhashi and Chiharu Shida respectively.
Watanabe started the 2015 season, by winning the boys' doubles title at the Dutch Junior tournament with Kenya Mitsuhashi, and finished as the semifinalist in the mixed doubles with Chiharu Shida, and later won the mixed doubles title in German Junior tournament. In July, he competed at the Asian Junior Championships, clinched the bronze medals in the boys' singles and mixed team events. He reached his first final in the senior international event at the 2015 Russian Open a BWF Grand Prix tournament. At the Danish Junior Cup, he clinched two titles by winning the boys' singles and doubles events. In November, he won the boys' doubles bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru.
Watanabe won his first senior international tournament at the Vietnam International Challenge in the mixed doubles event with Arisa Higashino, and also became the runner-up in the men's doubles event. Together with Higashino, they reaching the 2018 All England Open final beat three top seeding, and clinched the title after beating the fifth seeded pair from China Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong in the rubber game.

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Mixed doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2019St. Jakobshalle,
Basel, Switzerland		 Arisa Higashino Zheng Siwei
Huang Yaqiong		11–21, 15–21 Bronze

Asian Championships

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2019Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium,
Wuhan, China		 Hiroyuki Endo Marcus Fernaldi Gideon
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo		21–18, 21–3 Gold

BWF World Junior Championships

Boys' doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2015Centro de Alto Rendimiento de la Videna,
Lima, Peru		 Kenya Mitsuhashi He Jiting
Zheng Siwei		13–21, 16–21 Bronze

Mixed doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2014Stadium Sultan Abdul Halim,
Alor Setar, Malaysia		 Arisa Higashino Huang Kaixiang
Chen Qingchen		19–21, 12–21 Bronze

Asian Junior Championships

Boys' singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2015CPB Badminton Training Center, Bangkok, Thailand Lin Guipu10–21, 12–21 Bronze

Boys' doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2014Taipei Gymnasium,
Taipei, Chinese Taipei		 Kenya Mitsuhashi Huang Kaixiang
Zheng Siwei		10–21, 8–21 Bronze

BWF World Tour (7 titles, 7 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.
Men's doubles
YearTournamentLevelPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2020All England OpenSuper 1000 Hiroyuki Endo Marcus Fernaldi Gideon
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo		21–18, 12–21, 21–19 Winner
2019BWF World Tour FinalsWorld Tour Finals Hiroyuki Endo Mohammad Ahsan
Hendra Setiawan		22–24, 19–21 Runner-up
2019New Zealand OpenSuper 300 Hiroyuki Endo Mohammad Ahsan
Hendra Setiawan		22–20, 15–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2019German OpenSuper 300 Hiroyuki Endo Takeshi Kamura
Keigo Sonoda		15–21, 21–11, 21–12 Winner
2018BWF World Tour FinalsWorld Tour Finals Hiroyuki Endo Li Junhui
Liu Yuchen		15–21, 11–21 Runner-up
2018Korea OpenSuper 500 Hiroyuki Endo Takuro Hoki
Yugo Kobayashi		9–21, 21–15, 21–10 Winner
2018Thailand OpenSuper 500 Hiroyuki Endo Takeshi Kamura
Keigo Sonoda		17–21, 19–21 Runner-up
2018Malaysia OpenSuper 750 Hiroyuki Endo Takeshi Kamura
Keigo Sonoda		8–21, 10–21 Runner-up

Mixed doubles
YearTournamentLevelPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2019Hong Kong OpenSuper 500 Arisa Higashino He Jiting
Du Yue		22–20, 21–16 Winner
2019Thailand OpenSuper 500 Arisa Higashino Wang Yilü
Huang Dongping		22–24, 21–23 Runner-up
2019All England OpenSuper 1000 Arisa Higashino Zheng Siwei
Huang Yaqiong		17–21, 20–22 Runner-up
2019Malaysia MastersSuper 500 Arisa Higashino Dechapol Puavaranukroh
Sapsiree Taerattanachai		21–18, 21–18 Winner
2018Hong Kong OpenSuper 500 Arisa Higashino Wang Yilü
Huang Dongping		21–18, 21–14 Winner
2018All England OpenSuper 1000 Arisa Higashino Zheng Siwei
Huang Yaqiong		15–21, 22–20, 21–16 Winner

BWF Grand Prix (1 runner-up)

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.
Mixed doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2015Russian Open Arisa Higashino Chan Peng Soon
Goh Liu Ying		13–21, 21–23 Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 title, 2 runners-up)

Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Vietnam International Kenya Mitsuhashi Ong Yew Sin
Teo Ee Yi		19–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2016Austrian Open Kenya Mitsuhashi Marcus Ellis
Chris Langridge		14–21, 16–21 Runner-up

Mixed doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Vietnam International Arisa Higashino Tinn Isriyanet
Pacharapun Chochuwong		21–16, 21–14 Winner