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Koki Watanabe

Koki Watanabe
Personal information
CountryJapan
Born (1999-01-29) 29 January 1999 (age 26)
Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
HandednessRight
CoachSho Sasaki (2025–)[1]
Kazumasa Sakai (2024–)[1]
Men's singles
Career record176 wins, 104 losses (62.86%)
Highest ranking11 (22 October 2024)
Current ranking11 (4 February 2025)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Japan
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Hangzhou Men's team
Asia Team Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Manila Men's team
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Selangor Men's team
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Lima Boys' singles
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Bilbao Mixed team
Asian Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Bangkok Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Bangkok Mixed team
BWF profile

Koki Watanabe (渡邉 航貴, Watanabe Kōki, born 29 January 1999) is a Japanese badminton player.[2] He graduated from the Saitama Sakae High School, and was part of the BIPROGY team since 2017.[3] He won his first international title at the 2018 Yonex / K&D Graphics International tournament.

Career

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Watanabe started his badminton career when he was four years old, entered the badminton club under the influence of his sister.[4] He later concentrate his badminton career in the kindergarten, and when he was in the elementary school, he won the Saitama school championships in third consecutive years. Watanabe entered the Saitamasakaechugakko Koto school, and won the singles title at the national junior championships, also placed third in the doubles event.[3][4] He was part of the national junior team that competed at the 2015 and 2016 Asia and World Junior Championships, winning the World boys' singles bronze medal in 2015, he also helped the national team win the 2015, 2016 Asian, also 2016 World Junior bronze medals.[5]

In 2018, Watanabe became the runner-up at the BWF Super 100 tournament Russian Open.[6]

2024

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Koki Watanabe celebrated a significant milestone in his badminton career by winning his first Super 500 title at the 2024 Canada Open.[7] This victory is particularly meaningful, as it fulfills one of his long-held dreams. Watanabe expressed his satisfaction with this achievement and emphasized the importance of staying focused and taking one step at a time to reach his goals. In the final match, Watanabe faced Alex Lanier, the defending champion from 2022. The match was hard-fought, with Watanabe winning the third game 21–6. Lanier admitted that he ran out of energy in the third game, which allowed Watanabe to dominate and secure the title.[8]

Awards and nominations

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Award Year Category Result Ref.
BWF Awards 2019 Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year Nominated [9]

Achievements

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BWF World Junior Championships

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Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2015 Centro de Alto Rendimiento de la Videna,
Lima, Peru 		Chinese Taipei Lu Chia-hung 18–21, 12–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF World Tour (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

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The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[10] 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[11]

Men's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result Ref
2018 Russian Open Super 100 India Sourabh Verma 21–18, 12–21, 17–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [12]
2019 Orléans Masters Super 100 France Thomas Rouxel 18–21, 21–12, 21–19 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [13]
2023 Swiss Open Super 300 Chinese Taipei Chou Tien-chen 22–20, 18–21, 21–12 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [14]
2023 Korea Masters Super 300 Japan Kento Momota 16–21, 15–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [15]
2024 Canada Open Super 500 France Alex Lanier 20–22, 21–17, 21–6 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [16]
2024 Denmark Open Super 750 Denmark Anders Antonsen 15–21, 16–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [17][18]

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles)

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Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref
2018 Yonex / K&D Graphics International Japan Kodai Naraoka 21–14, 14–21, 21–15 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [19]
2019 Osaka International Japan Takuma Obayashi 19–21, 21–17, 21–7 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [20]
  BWF International Challenge tournament

References

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  1. ^ a b "Announcement of the 2025 Japan National Team Players and Staff" (PDF) (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. 21 January 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Players: Koki Watanabe". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "渡邉 航貴" (in Japanese). Biprogy. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b "もらった応援をうまく力に変えて、東京オリンピック出場を目指します！" (in Japanese). Koshigaya City. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. ^ "日本選手は準決勝敗退。銅メダル６個！ 世界ジュニア2015《個人戦》５日目結果" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  6. ^ "「ロシアオープン2018」女子ダブルス星千智・中西貴映組 優勝！男子シングルス渡邉航貴 準優勝！女子シングルス海老原詩織 準優勝！" (in Japanese). Unisys. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  7. ^ "[Canada Open 2024] Koki Watanabe wins his first Super 500 title! Nakanishi and Iwanaga win their fourth title of the season!" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  8. ^ Sukumar, Dev (8 July 2024). "Canada Open: 'dream Come True'". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Nominees Announced for Player of the Year Awards". Badminton World Federation. 5 December 2019.
  10. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  11. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Sourabh Verma wins Russian Open badminton, beats Koki Watanabe in final". Hindustan Times. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  13. ^ Anastasiadou-Galva, Despoina (24 March 2019). "Très Bien for Europe in Orléans!". Badminton Europe. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Swiss Open: Koki Watanabe Emerges Surprise Winner". Badminton World Federation. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Korea Masters: Momota breaks dry spell". Badminton World Federation. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  16. ^ Sukumar, Dev (8 July 2024). "Canada Open dream come true". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  17. ^ Schwager-Patel, Nischal (20 October 2024). "BWF Denmark Open 2024: Home hero Anders Antonsen and Wang Zhi Yi seal badminton titles in style". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  18. ^ Pierre, Dianne (21 October 2024). "Denmark Open: Kasper On Board, Anders Makes Spirited Beginning". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  19. ^ "Pan Am Players at Yonex K&D Graphics International Challenge". Badminton Pan America. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  20. ^ "[Osaka International Challenge] Japanese athletes win in three events! Watanabe, Kawakami, Hobara and Sone become champions!" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
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