is a Japanese badminton player who specializes in women's doubles. A former member of the Japanese national team, she plays for the NTT East team and has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 17 in women's doubles. She won a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Junior Championships and a bronze medal at the 2023 World Junior Championships. Yamakita has won two Super 300 titles: her maiden BWF World Tour title at the 2025 Korea Masters and the 2026 Canada Open.

Career 2019–2023: Junior career and first senior title Yamakita's junior career included winning the U17 mixed doubles title at the 2019 Asian Junior Championships with partner Yudai Okimoto. In 2022, she and Maya Taguchi reached the finals of three European junior tournaments, including the Croatia Junior and Bulgaria Junior Opens.

In 2023, Yamakita partnered with Mei Sudo to win the German Junior title. The pair subsequently claimed the gold medal at the Asian Junior Championships by defeating South Korea's Park Seul and Yeon Seo-yeon in the final. They also earned a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Spokane. Yamakita was part of the Japanese squad that secured its first mixed team gold medal in 11 years at the Asian Junior Championships, as well as a bronze at the World Junior Championships. She made her senior international debut in June 2023 at the Guatemala Future Series, winning the women's doubles title with Sudo and finishing as runner-up in mixed doubles with Kenta Matsukawa.

2024–2025: First World Tour title and world top 40 After joining the NTT East badminton team, Yamakita partnered with Naru Shinoya to win the 2024 Malaysia International. In 2025, she began a partnership with Hinata Suzuki. The duo won the Saipan International and finished as runners-up at both the Northern Marianas Open and the Super 100 Kaohsiung Masters. In November 2025, Yamakita won her first World Tour title at the Super 300 Korea Masters, defeating Kim So-yeong and Lee Seo-jin in straight games. Following this victory, she reached a career-high world ranking of 37 in women's doubles.

2026: Canada Open title In May, Yamakita and Suzuki reached the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open. The following month, the pair made their Super 1000 debut at the Indonesia Open, advancing to the second round before losing to world No. 1 Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. Later in June, Yamakita and Suzuki reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open, where they were defeated by compatriots and eventual champions Sumire Nakade and Miyu Takahashi. In July, Yamakita secured her second Super 300 title at the Canada Open, defeating Kaho Osawa and Mai Tanabe in the final.

Achievements World Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2023 The Podium, Spokane, United States Mei Sudo Francesca Corbett Allison Lee 21–18, 16–21, 13–21 Bronze

Asian Junior Championships Girls' doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2023 Among Rogo Sports Hall, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Mei Sudo Park Seul Yeon Seo-yeon 21–19, 14–21, 23–21 Gold

BWF World Tour (2 titles, 1 runner-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.

Women's doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2025 Kaohsiung Masters Super 100 Hinata Suzuki Ririna Hiramoto Kokona Ishikawa 16–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2025 Korea Masters Super 300 Hinata Suzuki Kim So-yeong Lee Seo-jin 21–18, 25–23 Winner 2026 Canada Open Super 300 Hinata Suzuki Kaho Osawa Mai Tanabe 21–15, 21–16 Winner

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 titles, 2 runners-up) Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2023 Guatemala Future Series Mei Sudo Tomoka Miyazaki Maya Taguchi 16–21, 21–14, 25–23 Winner 2024 Malaysia International Naru Shinoya Hinata Suzuki An Uesugi 21–13, 12–21, 21–17 Winner 2025 Northern Marianas Open Hinata Suzuki Ririna Hiramoto Kokona Ishikawa 17–21, 15–21 Runner-up 2025 Saipan International Hinata Suzuki Nanako Hara Riko Kiyose 15–13, 8–15, 15–11 Winner

Mixed doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2023 Guatemala Future Series Kenta Matsukawa Daigo Tanioka Maya Taguchi 18–21, 19–21 Runner-up

BWF International Challenge tournament BWF Future Series tournament

BWF Junior International (2 titles, 3 runners-up) Girls' doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2022 Croatia Junior Open Maya Taguchi Rui Kiyama Kanano Muroya 19–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2022 Bulgaria Junior Open Maya Taguchi Rui Kiyama Kanano Muroya 14–21, 21–19, 17–21 Runner-up 2022 Malaysia Junior International Maya Taguchi Rui Kiyama Kanano Muroya 19–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2023 German Junior Mei Sudo Li Huazhou Zhang Yuhan 21–11, 19–21, 21–18 Winner 2023 Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Mei Sudo Ariella Naqiyyah Rachel Agnesia Sabatini 21–17, 21–9 Winner

BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament BWF Junior International Challenge tournament BWF Junior International Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team Junior level Team events 2022 2023 Ref Asian Junior Championships NH G World Junior Championships B 5th

Senior level Team events 2026 Ref Asia Team Championships 5th

Individual competitions Junior level Girls' doubles Events 2022 2023 Ref Asian Junior Championships NH G World Junior Championships 3R B

Mixed doubles Events 2022 2023 Ref Asian Junior Championships NH 2R World Junior Championships A QF

Senior level Women's doubles Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref 2023 2024 2025 2026 Swiss Open A 1R 1R ('26) Ruichang China Masters A QF A QF ('25) Orléans Masters A 1R 1R ('26) Thailand Open A QF QF ('26) Singapore Open A 1R 1R ('26) Indonesia Open A 2R 2R ('26) U.S. Open A SF SF ('26) Canada Open A W W ('26) Japan Open 1R A QF QF ('26) China Open A 2R 2R ('26) Korea Masters 1R A W A W ('25) Indonesia Masters Super 100 2R A QF A QF ('25) Denmark Open A Q ('26) French Open A Q ('26) Korea Open A Q ('26) Japan Masters A 2R Q 2R ('25) Year-end ranking — — 41 41 Tournament 2023 2024 2025 2026 Best Ref

Wins over top-10 ranked pairs Wins over pairs who were ranked in the world's top 10 at the time the match was played. # Partner Opponent Tournament Score 1 Hinata Suzuki Rin Iwanaga Kie Nakanishi 7 2026 Japan Open 2R 21–15, 18–21, 21–11 19

Record against selected opponents Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 23 August 2026.

Hinata Suzuki Players Liu Shengshu & Tan Ning 1 0 1 –1 Yuki Fukushima & Mayu Matsumoto 2 0 2 –2 Rin Iwanaga & Kie Nakanishi 3 1 2 –1 Benyapa Aimsaard & Nuntakarn Aimsaard 1 1 0 +1

References

External links

Nao Yamakita at Badminton Association of Japan Nao Yamakita at NTT East