Ayaka Ikehara

Ayaka Ikehara (born 24 September 1990) is a Japanese handball player for Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub and the Japanese national team.

Early life Ikehara was born on 24 September 1990 in Urasoe, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Career In 2013, Ikehara was selected for the Japan women's national team that took part in the 2013 World Women's Handball Championship in Serbia. Japan were eliminated in the round of 16 after losing 27–19 to France.

She was again selected for Japan at the 2015 World Women's Handball Championship in Denmark. Japan did not fare as well after being eliminated in the preliminary group stage. They participated in the President's Cup play-off, losing 29–24 to China before defeating Puerto Rico 44–15.

In 2017, she joined Nykøbing Falster in Denmark and began playing in the Damehåndboldligaen.

The 2019 World Women's Handball Championship was held in Japan and Ikehara was again part of the squad. Japan fared well at the tournament as the host nation. In the preliminary round, they defeated Argentina, DR Congo and China which saw them qualify for the main round as the third-placed team in their group. However, they were eliminated in the main round after winning just one of their five group matches.

In 2020, Ikehara joined Odense Håndbold of Denmark.

Ikehara made her Olympic debut at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2023, Ikehara returned to Nykøbing Falster.

Achievements Danish League: Gold Medalist: 2021, 2022 Carpathian Trophy: Bronze Medalist: 2019

Individual awards All-Star Right Wing of Damehåndboldligaen: 2017/18