is a 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 won a silver medal in the men's singles at the 2017 Summer Universiade and a bronze medal at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

. Nishimoto was part of Japan winning team at the 2012 Asian Junior Championships and at the 2017 Asia Mixed Team Championships.

Career

2013: First career final

In 2013, Nishimoto reached the final of the Russia Open Grand Prix tournament, and became the runner-up after being defeated by Vladimir Ivanov of Russia.

2017: Summer Universiade silver

In August, Nishimoto participated in the 2017 Summer Universiade, held in Taipei. He lost to

Wang Tzu-wei Wang Tzu-wei ( Chinese: 王子維; born 27 February 1995) is a Taiwanese badminton player. He won his first international title at the 2014 New Zealand Open tournament. Wang competed at the 2017 Summer Universiade, where he won the gold medals i ...

in the final, 16–21, 15–21, clinching a silver medal.

2018: Asian Games bronze; 2 World Tour finals

In January, Nishimoto reached his first BWF World Tour final, the 2018 Malaysia Masters. In the final, he lost to then-reigning world champion

Viktor Axelsen Viktor Axelsen (born 4 January 1994) is a Danish badminton player. He is the 2017 and 2022 World champion and the 2020 Olympic champion. He won the 2010 World Junior Championships, beating South Korea's Kang Ji-wook in the final to become the ...

in the final, 13–21, 23–21, 18–21 in three games. Later in August, Nishimoto participated in the

, held in Jakarta. He lost to home favourite and eventual champion

Jonatan Christie Leonardus Jonatan Christie (born 15 September 1997) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in the singles discipline affiliated with the Tangkas Specs club. He won the men's singles title at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games and at the 20 ...

in the semi-final, losing 15–21, 21–15, 19–21 in three games, winning a bronze medal. At the end of the year, Nishimoto made it to another final, the 2018 Hong Kong Open. He lost to Korea's

Son Wan-ho Son Wan-ho (Hangul: 손완호; or ; born 17 May 1988) is a South Korean badminton player. He reached a career high as world number 1 in the men's singles in May 2017. He competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He plays primarily defensive ...

in the final, losing 21–14, 17–21, 13–21 in an hour and 29 minutes.

2019–2020

Kicking off the 2019 season, in March, Nishimoto made it to his first final of the year, the 2019 German Open. He lost in the final to compatriot

Kento Momota is a Japanese badminton player. He is known to have a skillful and relentless play style on court. He has won several major badminton tournaments including two World Championships titles, two Asian Championships titles, and one All England ...

in straight games, losing 10–21, 16–21. The following year, at the 2020 Thailand Masters, Nishimoto lost to Hong Kong's

Ng Ka Long Angus Ng Ka-long (born 24 June 1994) is a badminton player from Hong Kong. He has a career-high ranking of 6th in the men's singles discipline. He won the 2016 Hong Kong Super Series and the 2020 Thailand Masters. Early life and education ...

in the final, losing 21–16, 13–21, 12–21 in three games.

2022: First international title

In September, Nishimoto made it to his 7th career final, this time at his home event, the 2022 Japan Open. In the final, he beat 6th ranked and 3rd seed

Chou Tien-chen Chou Tien-chen (Chinese: 周天成; born 8 January 1990) is a Taiwanese badminton player. He became the first local shuttler in 17 years to win the men's singles title of the Chinese Taipei Open in 2016 since Indonesian-born Fung Permadi won i ...

in the final, winning 21–19, 21–23, 21–17 in rubber games. After the final, Nishimoto stated that he was "really happy" and also "a bit relieved" after clinching his first title, and thanked the home crowd for their support.

Achievements

Asian Games

''Men's singles''

Summer Universiade

''Men's singles''

BWF World Tour (1 title, 4 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Men's singles''

BWF Superseries (1 runner-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 Badminton World Federation (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 singles'' : BWF World Superseries Premier tournament : BWF World Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (1 runner-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. ''Men's singles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nishimoto, Kenta 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Mie Prefecture Japanese male badminton players Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Universiade silver medalists for Japan Universiade medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade 21st-century Japanese people