is a retired Japanese

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player. He competed at the 2016 Rio and

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. In 2009, he joined the

Unisys Unisys Corporation is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. It provides digital workplace solutions, cloud, applications, and infrastructure solutions, e ...

badminton team.

Career

Endo won the 1st point in the Thomas Cup finals with

Kenichi Hayakawa is a retired Japanese badminton player. He has been a runner-up of the All England three times (2013, 2014 and 2016) along with his partner, Hiroyuki Endo. He competed at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. Career Hayakawa won the first point in th ...

beating

Tan Boon Heong Tan Boon Heong (, born 18 September 1987) is a former World No.1 Malaysian professional badminton player in the men's doubles event. Career 2004-2006 Tan was previously paired with Hoon Thien How, with whom he won the World Junior Champi ...

and

Hoon Thien How Hoon Thien How (born 24 December 1986) is a former badminton player from Malaysia who plays in the men's doubles category. Currently, he is one of the assistant coach for Malaysia men's doubles national team. Career Hoon Thien How and Tan ...

and led the momentum for the Japanese team to claim the

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

for the first time, being the fourth nation to win the Thomas cup after Indonesia, China and Malaysia. Known for his defensive skills alongside his knowledge of the game, Endo has reached the finals of the All England Open tournament a total of 5 times, being the runner up three times with his then partner,

and winning back to back titles, defending his 2020 All England Open title in 2021 with his current partner, Yuta Watanabe. In July 2021, Endo competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in the men's doubles partnering Yuta Watanabe. They were stopped in the quarter-finals, losing to

Lee Yang Lee Yang (; born 12 August 1995) is a Taiwanese badminton player and 2020 Olympics men's doubles champion. Career Lee played in the men's doubles with Lee Jhe-huei. They were champions in 2016 at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix. In 2015, toge ...

and

Wang Chi-lin Wang Chi-lin (; born 18 January 1995) is a Taiwanese badminton player who specializes in doubles. He is the 2020 Olympics men's doubles champion. Career In 2021, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he and his partner Lee Yang Lee Yang (; born 12 ...

, the eventual champions, in straight games.

Retirement

At the beginning of September 2021 Hiroyuki Endo, at that time World No. 5 together with Yuta Watanabe, decided to resign from the Japanese National badminton team. This announcement just after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was made together with the announcement of retirements of men's doubles compatriots

Keigo Sonoda is a Japanese badminton player. He affiliated with the YKK AP Yatsushiro, before joining the Tonami team in 2010. Sonoda was part of the national team that won the 2014 Thomas Cup. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2016 Hong Kong O ...

and

Takeshi Kamura is a Japanese badminton player. He was selected to join the national team in 2013 and retired in 2021. Kamura was part of the national team that won the 2014 Thomas Cup. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2016 Hong Kong Open, and re ...

. Endo, already 34 at the time of his retirement, wanted his partner Yuta Watanabe to fully concentrate on playing men’s doubles with him and stop playing mixed doubles for some time. When he could not come to an agreement with Watanabe, he chose to retire. Meanwhile Yuta, because he won the mixed doubles bronze medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, still wanted to play both disciplines. ''“Thank you for your hard work as a National representative! You stayed as an A team member for 13 years. You piled up the endurance day by day. I guess you could do it because you hate to lose. I know you have been going through a lot of things, but you are amazing!”'' wrote Endo’s wife on twitter. Endo became coach of his badminton club Nihon Unisys in Japan after his retirement. Hiroyuki Endo

Achievements

BWF World Championships

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles''

BWF World Tour (4 titles, 5 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 The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

(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. ''Men's doubles''

BWF Superseries (7 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Men's doubles'' :

BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series c ...

tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

tournament

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 3 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

(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. ''Men's doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 runner-up)

''Men's doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Endo, Hiroyuki 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Saitama Prefecture Japanese male badminton players Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of Japan Badminton players at the 2010 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for Japan 21st-century Japanese people