is a Japanese female badminton player.
Career In her early career focusing on women's doubles, Imai won the 2016 Sydney International with Haruka Yonemoto and finished as the runner-up at the 2017 Russia Open Grand Prix with Minami Kawashima. Her career-high ranking in women's doubles was No. 133, achieved on 12 April 2018. After the 2019 Akita Masters, she did not compete internationally for several years.
She returned to competition in 2025, shifting her focus to mixed doubles with Akira Koga. They secured their first BWF World Tour title by winning the Kaohsiung Masters, a Super 100 level tournament. The pair defeated World University Games gold medalists Wu Hsuan-yi and Yang Chu-yun in the final. On the International Challenge/Series circuit, the pair won titles at the Mexican International and the Northern Marianas Open, and finished as runners-up at the Northern Marianas International. Her career-high ranking in mixed doubles with Koga is No. 69, achieved on 30 September 2025.
Achievements BWF World Tour (1 title) 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.
Mixed doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2025 Kaohsiung Masters Super 100 Akira Koga Wu Hsuan-yi Yang Chu-yun 16–21, 21–13, 21–15 Winner
BWF Grand Prix The BWF Grand Prix has two level such as Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.
Women's Doubles YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResultRef2017Russian Open Minami Kawashima Akane Araki Aoi Matsuda6–11, 11–6, 7–11, 11–7, 5–11 Runner-up BWF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series (3 titles, 1 runner-up) Women's Doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref2016Sydney International Haruka Yonemoto Erina Honda Nozomi Shimizu21–16, 15–21, 21–18 Winner
Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2025 Mexican International Akira Koga Davi Silva Sânia Lima 15–8, 9–15, 15–9 Winner 2025 Northern Marianas International Akira Koga Kim Jae-hyeon Kim Min-ji 13–21, 21–16, 18–21 Runner-up 2025 Northern Marianas Open Akira Koga Haruki Kawabe Kokona Ishikawa 21–19, 21–13 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament
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