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 is a member of the Nihon Unisys team, and national team A representative. He is known for his quick and explosive movements with his signature drop shots on court. Watanabe has collected three bronze medals at the World Junior Championships, and also four bronze at the Asian Junior Championships. Watanabe was selected to join the Japanese mixed team compete at the 2017 Sudirman Cup in

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

, Australia, winning a gold medal in the qualification to Gold Coast at the 2017 Asia Mixed Team Championships in

Ho Chi Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, Vietnam, and the team finished in the semi-final round, took the bronze medal. The left-handed Watanabe has won Super 1000 tournaments a total of five times, and was the first ever male player from Japan to win an All England Open title, first at the

2018 All England Open The 2018 All England Open, officially the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2018, was a badminton tournament which took place at Arena Birmingham in England from 14 to 18 March 2018. It had a total purse of $1 million. Tournament T ...

in the mixed doubles event partnered with

Arisa Higashino is a Japanese badminton player. She won bronze in the mixed team at the Asian Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014, and competed at the 2014 World Junior Championships, winning two bronzes in the mixed doubles and team event. Higashino won h ...

, then in the 2020 All England Open in the men's doubles event with

Hiroyuki Endo is a retired Japanese badminton player. He competed at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. In 2009, he joined the Unisys badminton team. Career Endo won the 1st point in the Thomas Cup finals with Kenichi Hayakawa beating Tan Bo ...

, and in both men's and mixed doubles in the

2021 All England Open The 2021 All England Open (officially known as the Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2021 for sponsorship reasons) was a badminton tournament which took place at Utilita Arena Birmingham in England from 17 to 21 March 2021. It had a ...

, defending his men's doubles title with

and winning the mixed doubles category with once again,

. Watanabe won the

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...

bronze medal 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 ...

, defeating Hong Kong's

Tang Chun Man Jordan Tang Chun Man (, born 20 March 1995) is a Hong Kong badminton player. He started playing badminton at the age of seven, and joined the national team when he was 18. He won his first title in the 2016 Chinese Taipei Masters partnering wit ...

and

Tse Ying Suet Tse Ying Suet (, born 9 November 1991) is a Hong Kong badminton player. She competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's doubles event (with Poon Lok Yan). In 2012, she won the women's doubles title at the Japan Open tournament w ...

in the bronze medal match.

Career overview

Watanabe started his career in badminton when he join the Kodaira junior club in Tokyo in 2005. He had shown his talent in badminton when he won some national event when he was in the elementary school. He made a partnership with

as his senior in Tomioka Dai-ichi Junior High School in 2012. Watanabe was selected to join national junior team competed at the 2014 Asian Junior Championships, and helped the team win the mixed team bronze medal. He also settled for another bronze medal in the boys' doubles event partnered with

Kenya Mitsuhashi is a Japanese badminton player. Achievements Summer Universiade ''Men's doubles'' BWF World Junior Championships ''Boys' doubles'' Asian Junior Championships ''Boys' doubles'' BWF World Tour (2 titles, 1 runner-up) The BWF World ...

. At the World Junior Championships in Alor Setar, Malaysia, he won the bronze medals in the mixed doubles event with

and in the mixed team event. In June 2014, he made his first appearance in the senior international event at the Japan Open, competed in the mixed doubles with Higashino, but the duo was defeated in the first round. He captured two titles at the 2014 Korea Junior Open in the boys' and mixed doubles event teamed-up with Mitsuhashi and

Chiharu Shida is a Japanese badminton player from the Saishunkan team. She was the bronze medalists at the Asian and World Junior Championships in 2014 and 2015. Shida won her first international title at the 2016 Vietnam International, and claimed her first ...

respectively. Watanabe started the 2015 season, by winning the boys' doubles title at the Dutch Junior tournament with

, and finished as the semifinalist in the mixed doubles with

, and later won the mixed doubles title in German Junior tournament. In July, he competed at the Asian Junior Championships, clinched the bronze medals in the boys' singles and mixed team events. He reached his first final in the senior international event at the 2015 Russian Open a BWF Grand Prix tournament. At the Danish Junior Cup, he clinched two titles by winning the boys' singles and doubles events. In November, he won the boys' doubles bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru. Watanabe won his first senior international tournament at the

Vietnam International The Vietnam International or Vietnam Satellite or Hanoi International in badminton is an international tournament held in Vietnam. This tournament has been an International Challenge level since 2008. Another tournament named Vietnam International ...

Challenge in the mixed doubles event with

, and also became the runner-up in the men's doubles event. Together with Higashino, they reached the

final beating the top three seeds, and clinched the title after beating the fifth seeded pair from China

Zheng Siwei Zheng may refer to: *Zheng (surname), Chinese surname (鄭, 郑, ''Zhèng'') *Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China *Guzheng (), a Chinese zither with bridges *Qin Shi Huang (259 BC – 210 BC), emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ...

and

Huang Yaqiong Huang Yaqiong (, born 28 February 1994) is a Chinese badminton player who specializes in doubles. She won the prestigious All England Open in 2017 partnered with Lu Kai, and in 2019 with Zheng Siwei. Together with Lu, she emerged as the champio ...

in the rubber game.

2021

In March, Watanabe won both the men's and mixed doubles disciplines in the All England Open with

and

. He was the first player in over 19 years to accomplish such a feat. In July, he competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the men's doubles partnering Endo, and in the

with Higashino. Watanabe and Endo's pace was stopped in the quarter-finals to eventual gold medalists

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 ...

, while in the mixed doubles, Watanabe and Higashino clinched a bronze medal after winning the bronze medal game against

and

in straight games.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Mixed doubles''

BWF World Championships

''Mixed doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

BWF World Junior Championships

''Boys' doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Junior Championships

''Boys' singles'' ''Boys' doubles''

BWF World Tour (12 titles, 11 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

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

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

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 title, 2 runners-up)

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed 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

Performance timeline

National team

* ''Junior level'' * ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

Junior level

* ''Boys' singles'' * ''Boys' doubles'' * ''Mixed doubles''

Senior level

=Men's singles

=Men's doubles

=Mixed doubles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Yuta 1997 births Living people People from Suginami Japanese male badminton players Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of Japan Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players 21st-century Japanese people