Sayaka Hobara

is a Japanese badminton player. A left-handed player from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, she is a former World Junior Champion, winning the girls' doubles title in 2016 with Nami Matsuyama. She competes in both women's and mixed doubles, achieving career-high world rankings of No. 11 in women's doubles and No. 13 in mixed doubles. Hobara was a member of the Japanese team that won the bronze medal at the 2025 Sudirman Cup.

Career 2022 In 2022, Hobara partnered with Hinata Suzuki in women's doubles. On the BWF World Tour, their best result was a semifinal finish at the Taipei Open. They also reached the quarterfinals at the Super 500 Singapore Open and at two Super 100 events: the Canada Open and the Indonesia Masters. At the International Challenge level, they finished as runners-up at the Indonesia International. On the World Tour, their best results were semifinal finishes at the Korea Masters and the Indonesia Masters II. The pair achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 39 on 21 November 2023.

2024 In 2024, Hobara focused exclusively on mixed doubles, partnering with Yuichi Shimogami. On the World Tour, the pair finished as runner-up at the Malaysia Super 100 and had semifinal finishes at the Ruichang China Masters and the Vietnam Open. At the Thailand Open, they were the first qualifying doubles pair in any discipline to reach the semifinals since 2013. En route to the Hong Kong Open semifinals, they upset the newly crowned world champions Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. In this discipline, she made her debuts at both the World and Asian Championships and was a member of the Japanese team that won a bronze medal at the Sudirman Cup. The pair achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 20 on 29 July.

2026 In mixed doubles, Hobara and Shimogami reached their first Super 750 final at the Singapore Open, marking the best finish of their partnership to date. During their tournament run, they defeated All England champions Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan in the first round, followed by a quarterfinal upset over second-seeded defending champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran. They finished as runners-up, losing the final to Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje.

Achievements World Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 Bilbao Arena, Bilbao, Spain Nami Matsuyama Du Yue Xu Ya 25–23, 19–21, 21–14 Gold Gold

BWF World Tour (2 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Mixed doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2024 Malaysia Super 100 Super 100 Yuichi Shimogami Ye Hong-wei Nicole Gonzales Chan 19–21, 21–12, 20–22 Runner-up 2026 Singapore Open Super 750 Yuichi Shimogami Mathias Christiansen Alexandra Bøje 21–17, 12–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2019 Osaka International Natsuki Sone Rira Kawashima Saori Ozaki 14–21, 21–10, 21–16 Winner 2019 Maldives International Natsuki Sone Ashwini Ponnappa N. Sikki Reddy 21–10, 17–21, 21–12 Winner 2020 Jamaica International Rena Miyaura Daniela Macías Dánica Nishimura 21–3, 21–7 Winner 2022 (II) Indonesia International Hinata Suzuki Lanny Tria Mayasari Ribka Sugiarto 16–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2023 Mexican International Yui Suizu Francesca Corbett Allison Lee 21–11, 23–21 Winner 2024 Saipan International Yuichi Shimogami Hiroki Nishi Akari Sato 11–21, 10–21 Runner-up

BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament

BWF Junior International (3 titles, 2 runners-up) Girls' doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 Dutch Junior Nami Matsuyama Kim Ga-eun Kim Hyang-im 21–14, 22–20 Winner 2016 German Junior Nami Matsuyama Kim Ga-eun Kim Hyang-im 21–17, 21–13 Winner 2016 India Junior International Nami Matsuyama Tew Jia Jia Yee Yap 11–2, 11–8, 11–5 Winner

Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 Dutch Junior Naoki Yamazawa Hiroki Okamura Nami Matsuyama 16–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2016 German Junior Hiroki Okamura Naoki Yamazawa Nami Matsuyama 22–20, 14–21, 11–21 Runner-up BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament