Kakeru Kumagai

Kakeru Kumagai
Kumagai at the 2025 Taipei Open
Personal information
Born (2002-01-05) 5 January 2002
Ōsaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight68 kg (150 lb)
Sport
CountryJapan
SportBadminton
HandednessLeft
Coached byLee Wan Wah
Hiroyuki Endo
Men's doubles
Career record69 wins, 34 losses (66.99%)
Highest ranking26 (with Hiroki Nishi, 10 March 2026)
Current ranking27 (with Hiroki Nishi, 17 March 2026)
BWF profile
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Japan
Asia Team Championships
2026 Qingdao Men's team
World Junior Championships
2019 Kazan Mixed team

Kakeru Kumagai (熊谷 翔, Kumagai Kakeru; born 5 January 2002) is a Japanese badminton player who specializes in doubles.[1] He plays for the BIPROGY badminton team and is a member of the Japanese national team.[2] Kumagai won his first BWF World Tour title at the 2025 Kaohsiung Masters.

Early career

Junior career

Kumagai began playing badminton at the Sendai Yamato Junior club before attending Saint Ursula Gakuin Eichi Junior and Senior High School. In 2018, he partnered with Yoshifumi Fujisawa to win the boys' doubles title at the All Japan Junior Championships.

The following year, Kumagai represented Japan at the 2019 World Junior Championships, winning a bronze medal in the mixed team event.[3] In the individual mixed doubles event, he and partner Mizuki Otake reached the quarterfinals, where they were defeated by the Chinese pair Jiang Zhenbang and Li Yijing in three games match (20–22, 21–18, 21–23).[4]

University career

Kumagai studied sport science at Nihon University.[5] Partnering with Kota Ogawa, he won the men's doubles title at the 2023 All Japan Student Championships (Inter-Collegiate). Consequently selected for the Japanese national B team, the pair made their World Tour debut at the 2023 Indonesia Masters I Super 100, finishing as runners-up.[6]

Career

2024

After graduating from university in April, Kumagai joined the BIPROGY badminton team.[7] He formed a men's doubles partnership with Hiroki Nishi, training under former national players Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa. In their debut season, the pair finished as runners-up at the Super 100 Odisha Masters and the Kazakhstan International.[8][9] Domestically, at the All Japan Corporate Team Championships, Kumagai partnered with Yuta Watanabe to defeat the former world No. 1 pair, Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, in the final. This victory secured the team title and earned the pair the Men's MVP award.[10]

2025

Kumagai and Nishi claimed their first international title as a pair at the Northern Marianas Open in August, defeating compatriots Haruki Kawabe and Kenta Matsukawa in the final.[11][12] They subsequently won their first World Tour title at the Super 100 Kaohsiung Masters.[13] The pair also finished as runners-up at the Super 100 Indonesia Masters I and reached the quarterfinals of two Super 500 tournaments: the Japan Masters and the Australian Open.[14][15][16] Following these results, they reached a career-high world ranking of No. 32 in November.

2026

Kumagai and Nishi opened the season by making their Super 1000 debut at the Malaysia Open. The pair advanced to the second round, where they were defeated by their compatriots Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi.[17] He was part of the Japanese team that won Japan's first men's team title at the Asia Team Championships. In the final against China, Kumagai and Nishi defeated He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu in three games to help secure the victory.[18] Kumagai achieved a career-high world ranking of 26 on 10 March.

Achievements

BWF World Tour (1 title, 3 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was introduced on 19 March 2017 and was held in 2018,[19] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[20]

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2023 (I) Indonesia Masters Super 100 Kota Ogawa Sabar Karyaman Gutama
Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani 		18–21, 15–21 Runner-up [6]
2024 Odisha Masters Super 100 Hiroki Nishi Huang Di
Liu Yang 		13–21, 21–19, 25–27 Runner-up [9]
2025 (I) Indonesia Masters Super 100 Hiroki Nishi Jin Yong
Na Sung-seung 		19–21, 21–13, 13–21 Runner-up [21][14]
2025 Kaohsiung Masters Super 100 Hiroki Nishi Su Ching-heng
Wu Guan-xun 		21–18, 21–17 Winner [13]

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

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2024 Kazakhstan International Hiroki Nishi Lucas Corvée
Ronan Labar 		14–21, 19–21 Runner-up [8]
2025 Northern Marianas Open Hiroki Nishi Haruki Kawabe
Kenta Matsukawa 		21–15, 23–25, 21–13 Winner [11][12]
  BWF International Challenge tournament

Performance timeline

Key
W F SF QF #R RR Q# A G S B NH N/A DNQ
(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze medal; (NH) not held; (N/A) not applicable; (DNQ) did not qualify.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

National team

  • Junior level
Team events 2019 Ref
World Junior Championships B [3]
  • Senior level
Team events 2023 2024 2025 2026 Ref
Asia Team Championships NH A NH G [18]
Thomas Cup NH A NH Q
World University Games QF NH A NH [22]

Individual competitions

Junior level

  • Boys' doubles
Events 2019
World Junior Championships 2R
  • Mixed doubles
Events 2019 Ref
World Junior Championships QF [4]

Senior level

Men's doubles
Events 2023 2024 2025 2026
Asian Championships A Q
World University Games 3R NH A NH
Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref
2023 2024 2025 2026
Malaysia Open A 2R 2R ('26) [17]
All England Open A 1R 1R ('26)
Swiss Open A 2R 2R ('26)
Ruichang China Masters A 2R A 2R ('25)
Orléans Masters A QF QF ('26)
Taipei Open A 1R 1R ('25)
Thailand Open A 1R 1R ('25)
Macau Open NH A 2R 2R ('25) [23]
Indonesia Masters Super 100 F A F F ('23, '25) [6][14]
2R QF
Kaohsiung Masters 1R A W W ('25) [13]
Malaysia Super 100 A SF SF ('25)
Korea Masters 1R A 1R 1R ('23, '25) [24]
Japan Masters 1R A QF QF ('25) [15]
Australian Open A QF QF ('25) [16]
Guwahati Masters A QF A QF ('24)
Odisha Masters A F A F ('24) [9]
Year-end ranking 82 108 34 26
Tournament 2023 2024 2025 2026 Best Ref

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 8 January 2026.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Kakeru KUMAGAI | Profile". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  2. ^ "熊谷 翔 BIPROGYバドミントンチーム" (in Japanese). BIPROGY Inc. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sukumar, Dev (4 October 2019). "Close Shave for China – Suhandinata Cup 2019: Semifinals". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b Sukumar, Dev (12 October 2019). "Vitidsarn Avenges Defeat – World Juniors: Quarterfinals". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 21 June 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ^ "Kanto University Badminton League: Victory for a Second Consecutive Season, Even Without Ace Naraoka!". Nihon University (in Japanese). 31 May 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "Indonesia Masters 2023 - Sabar/Reza Kuasai Podium Teratas" (in Indonesian). Djarum Badminton. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. ^ "4/1（月）に熊谷 翔選手、沖本 優大選手、谷岡 大后選手、坂井 叶選手が加入しました" (in Japanese). BIPROGY Inc. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b Hirata, Noriyasu. "結果 カザフスタンインターナショナルチャレンジ2024" (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Hashimoto, Hirokatsu. "Odisha Masters 2024 | Result" (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  10. ^ "[All Japan Corporate Team 2024] BIPROGY Secures 7th Title with a Decisive 3-0 Win Over Tonami Transportation! <Men's Results>". Badminton Spirit (in Japanese). 23 June 2024. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  11. ^ a b "Japan Dominates Finals at CROWNE PLAZA Northern Marianas Open". Badminton Oceania. 11 August 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  12. ^ a b Sablan Jr., James (12 August 2025). "Japan sweeps Crowne Plaza badminton titles". Marianas Variety. Archived from the original on 12 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  13. ^ a b c Chan, Chien-chuan (28 September 2025). "Badminton: Unable to Break Through the Japanese Pair! Su Ching-heng and Wu Guan-xun Suffer Defeat to Finish as Runners-Up After a 36-Minute Struggle". LTSports News (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  14. ^ a b c "Indonesia Masters I 2025 Men's Doubles: Kakeru Kumagai and Hiroki Nishi are the runners-up!". BIPROGY (in Japanese). 22 September 2025. Archived from the original on 25 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  15. ^ a b Osen (17 November 2025). "Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho Achieve 10th Title, 37-Year Men's Doubles Record". The Chosun Daily. Archived from the original on 23 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Australian Open 2025 - Sabar/Reza to the Top Four". Djarum Badminton (in Indonesian). 21 November 2025. Archived from the original on 23 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  17. ^ a b "Badminton Malaysia Open 2026: Live Updates, Japanese Team Results, and Summary". International Olympic Committee (in Japanese). 12 January 2026. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  18. ^ a b "Badminton Asia Team: Maiden Title for Korea, Japan". Badminton World Federation. 8 February 2026. Archived from the original on 9 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  19. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  20. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  21. ^ Sakai, Kazumasa (21 September 2025). "Indonesia Masters I 2025 | Results". Badminton Association of Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 25 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
  22. ^ Hirano, Yasuhiro (8 August 2023). "FISU World University Games (2021/Chengdu) Team competition | Results". Badminton Association of Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 15 August 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  23. ^ "Macau Open badminton: Satwik-Chirag survive scare, save match point to enter quarterfinals; Lakshya Sen also through in three". The Indian Express. 31 July 2025. Archived from the original on 20 August 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  24. ^ "Badminton Korea Masters 2025: Live Updates, Japanese Team Results, and Summary". International Olympic Committee (in Japanese). 10 November 2025. Archived from the original on 24 November 2025. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  25. ^ "Kakeru KUMAGAI – Head To Head". Badminton World Federations. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
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