Wakana Nagahara

is a Japanese badminton player. She is a two-time world champion in the women's doubles. Nagahara attended Aomori Yamada High School, and was part of the Japanese national junior team that won the bronze medals at the 2013, 2014 Asian and 2014 World Junior Championships. She won her first senior international title at the 2014 Smiling Fish International in the women's doubles event partnered with Mayu Matsumoto. In national events, she plays for the Hokuto Bank team. Nagahara was awarded as the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year by the BWF together with her partner Mayu Matsumoto. They obtained the honour after winning the 2018 BWF World Championships title and improving their ranking from 14 to 3 in the world. On 30 April 2019, she reached a career high as the women's doubles world No. 1.

Career

2021 In March, Nagahara and her partner Mayu Matsumoto won their first World Tour Super 1000 title in the All England Open defeating their compatriots, the defending champion, and current world number 1, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the final. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnering Matsumoto as 3rd seeds, and her pace was stopped by Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea in the quarter-finals.

Awards and nominations

Achievements

World Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2018 Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima Sayaka Hirota 19–21, 21–19, 22–20 Gold Gold 2019 St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima Sayaka Hirota 21–11, 20–22, 23–21 Gold Gold 2021 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín, Huelva, Spain Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen Jia Yifan 15–21, 12–21 Bronze Bronze 2022 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen Jia Yifan 13–21, 14–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium,Wuhan, China Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen Jia Yifan 21–19, 14–21, 19–21 Silver Silver 2023 Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall,Dubai, United Arab Emirates Mayu Matsumoto Baek Ha-na Lee So-hee 21–16, 8–21, 13–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF World Tour (5 titles, 10 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 Tour is 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.

Women's doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2018 Indonesia Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima Sayaka Hirota 14–21, 21–16, 14–21 Runner-up 2018 Spain Masters Super 300 Mayu Matsumoto Ayako Sakuramoto Yukiko Takahata 21–17, 21–13 Winner 2018 China Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Misaki Matsutomo Ayaka Takahashi 16–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2018 French Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva 21–14, 21–19 Winner 2018 Fuzhou China Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Lee So-hee Shin Seung-chan 21–23, 18–21 Runner-up 2019 All England Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen Jia Yifan 21–18, 20–22, 11–21 Runner-up 2019 Singapore Open Super 500 Mayu Matsumoto Kim Hye-jeong Kong Hee-yong 21–17, 22–20 Winner 2019 Japan Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Kim So-yeong Kong Hee-yong 12–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2019 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Mayu Matsumoto Chen Qingchen Jia Yifan 14–21, 10–21 Runner-up 2020 Denmark Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima Sayaka Hirota 10–21, 21–16, 18–21 Runner-up 2021 All England Open Super 1000 Mayu Matsumoto Yuki Fukushima Sayaka Hirota 21–18, 21–16 Winner 2022 Thailand Open Super 500 Mayu Matsumoto Nami Matsuyama Chiharu Shida 21–17, 15–21, 24–26 Runner-up 2022 French Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Pearly Tan Thinaah Muralitharan 19–21, 21–18, 15–21 Runner-up 2023 Canada Open Super 500 Mayu Matsumoto Nami Matsuyama Chiharu Shida 20–22, 16–21 Runner-up 2024 India Open Super 750 Mayu Matsumoto Zhang Shuxian Zheng Yu 21–12, 21–13 Winner

BWF Grand Prix (2 titles, 4 runners-up) The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2014 Russian Open Mayu Matsumoto Yuriko Miki Koharu Yonemoto 17–21, 7–21 Runner-up 2016 U.S. Open Mayu Matsumoto Shiho Tanaka Koharu Yonemoto 22–20, 15–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2016 Thailand Open Mayu Matsumoto Puttita Supajirakul Sapsiree Taerattanachai 12–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2017 Canada Open Mayu Matsumoto Chisato Hoshi Naru Shinoya 21–16, 16–21, 21–18 Winner 2017 U.S. Open Mayu Matsumoto Lee So-hee Shin Seung-chan 16–21, 13–21 Runner-up

Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 U.S. Open Yugo Kobayashi Robert Mateusiak Nadieżda Zięba 21–16, 21–18 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team Junior level Team events 2013 2014 Asian Junior Championships B B World Junior Championships 4th B

Senior level Team events 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Asia Team Championships NH G NH A NH A Uber Cup NH A NH B NH B Sudirman Cup S NH NH B NH

Individual competitions Senior level Women's doubles Events 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Ref Asian Championships A S NH A B QF

Mixed doubles