Kyohei Yamashita

Kyōhei Yamashita
Yamashita at the 2025 Taipei Open
Personal information
Born (1998-10-12) October 12, 1998
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight69 kg (152 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryJapan
SportBadminton
HandednessRight
Coached byTaichi Saito
Men's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking17 (MD with Hiroki Midorikawa, 10 March 2026)
13 (XD with Naru Shinoya, 27 December 2022)
Current ranking373 (MD with Hiroki Okamura, 17 March 2026)
BWF profile
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Japan
World Championships
2021 Huelva Mixed doubles
Sudirman Cup
2023 Suzhou Mixed team
2025 Xiamen Mixed team
Asian Games
2022 Hangzhou Men's team
Asian Junior Championships
2016 Bangkok Mixed team

Kyohei Yamashita (山下 恭平, Yamashita Kyōhei; born 12 October 1998) is a Japanese badminton player who competes in doubles events.[2] He is a former member of the Japanese national team and plays for the NTT East team.[3]

Yamashita won a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the 2021 World Championships with partner Naru Shinoya. After Shinoya retired in 2024, Yamashita shifted his focus to men's doubles, partnering Hiroki Midorikawa. The pair finished as runners-up at the 2026 India Open (Super 750) and won four International Challenge/Series titles between 2019 and 2024. Yamashita also represented Japan in team competitions, winning bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Games and the Sudirman Cup in 2023 and 2025.

Early career

In 2016, Yamashita competed at junior international level, partnering Naoki Yamazawa in boys' doubles. The pair finished as runners-up at the Dutch Junior before winning the German Junior; they faced Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera in both finals.[4][5] That year, Yamashita also represented Japan at the Asian Junior Championships in Bangkok, where the team won a bronze medal.[6]

Career

2019–2021

Yamashita and Naru Shinoya began competing together in mixed doubles on the BWF World Tour. In 2019, they reached the final of the Akita Masters (Super 100), losing to South Korea's Ko Sung-hyun and Eom Hye-won.[7] That same year, Yamashita won the Malaysia International in men's doubles with Hiroki Midorikawa.[8]

In 2021, Yamashita and Shinoya made their Super 750 debut at the Indonesia Masters, where they were eliminated in the first round. They subsequently competed in their first Super 1000 tournament at the Indonesia Open, advancing to the second round. The pair concluded the season at the World Championships in Huelva, winning the mixed doubles bronze medal following a semifinal loss to compatriots Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino.[9]

2022–2023

Yamashita and Shinoya reached a career-high mixed doubles world ranking of 13 in December 2022. During the 2022 season, the pair advanced to the quarterfinals at the Denmark Open and the Australian Open. In 2023, they reached the semifinals at the German Open and the Canada Open, and the quarterfinals at the All England Open.

In men's doubles, Yamashita partnered Midorikawa to win the Osaka International in 2023.[10]

Yamashita represented Japan in team events at both the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and 2023 Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, earning bronze medals on each occasion.

2024

Yamashita and Shinoya began the year pursuing qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics in mixed doubles. Their best World Tour result was a quarterfinal finish at the Thailand Masters.[11] The pair did not qualify, and their partnership ended in April when Shinoya retired from the national team.[12]

Yamashita then resumed his men's doubles partnership with Midorikawa. Returning to international competition in August, they won consecutive titles at the Sydney International and the North Harbour International.[13][14] Domestically, Yamashita and Midorikawa won three major Japanese national tournaments during the year: the Japan Ranking Circuit, the All Japan Members Championships, and the All Japan Championships.[15][16][17]

2025

Yamashita and Midorikawa continued their partnership throughout 2025. They reached the semifinals at the Swiss Open, having defeated the world No. 2 pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in the first round,[18][19] and also advanced to the semifinals at the Taipei Open.

In team competition, Yamashita represented Japan at the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, where the team earned a bronze medal.[20] He and Midorikawa reached a career-high men's doubles world ranking of 25 on 23 September. The pair concluded the season as runners-up at the Super 500 Japan Masters, losing the final to South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Seo Seung-jae.[21]

2026

Yamashita and Midorikawa began the 2026 season at the Malaysia Open, where they were eliminated in the second round.[22] They subsequently reached the final of the Super 750 India Open, finishing as runners-up to China's Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang.[23] Yamashita formed a new men's doubles partnership with Hiroki Okamura; the duo debuted at the Swiss Open in March, where they reached the second round but were defeated by the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty.[24]

Achievements

World Championships

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2021 Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín,
Huelva, Spain
Naru Shinoya Yuta Watanabe
Arisa Higashino
13–21, 8–21 Bronze [9]

BWF World Tour (3 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[25] 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 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[26]

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2025 Japan Masters Super 500 Hiroki Midorikawa Kim Won-ho
Seo Seung-jae
22–20, 11–21, 16–21 Runner-up [21]
2026 India Open Super 750 Hiroki Midorikawa Liang Weikeng
Wang Chang
21–17, 23–25, 16–21 Runner-up [23]

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2019 Akita Masters Super 100 Naru Shinoya Ko Sung-hyun
Eom Hye-won
10–21, 17–21 Runner-up [7]

BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles)

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2019 Malaysia International Hiroki Midorikawa Liang Weikeng
Shang Yichen
18–21, 21–10, 21–16 Winner [8]
2023 Osaka International Hiroki Midorikawa Wei Chun-wei
Wu Guan-xun
21–14, 21–14 Winner [10]
2024 Sydney International Hiroki Midorikawa Lai Po-yu
Tsai Fu-cheng
21–14, 21–16 Winner [13]
2024 North Harbour International Hiroki Midorikawa Lai Po-yu
Tsai Fu-cheng
16–21, 21–14, 21–14 Winner [14]
  BWF International Challenge tournament

BWF Junior International (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Boys' doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2016 Dutch Junior Naoki Yamazawa Hiroki Okamura
Masayuki Onodera
21–17, 11–21, 20–22 Runner-up [4]
2016 German Junior Naoki Yamazawa Hiroki Okamura
Masayuki Onodera
21–14, 21–19 Winner [5]
  BWF Junior International Grand Prix 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 2016 Ref
Asian Junior Championships B [6]
  • Senior level
Team events 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Ref
Asian Games B NH
Sudirman Cup NH B NH B NH [27]

Individual competitions

Senior level

Men's doubles
Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref
2018 2019 2023 2024 2025 2026
Malaysia Open A 2R 2R ('26) [22]
India Open A F F ('26) [28][23]
Indonesia Masters A QF 2R QF ('25) [29]
Swiss Open A SF 2R SF ('25) [18][24]
Orléans Masters A 2R Q 2R ('25)
Taipei Open A SF SF ('25)
Thailand Open A 2R 2R ('25) [30]
Malaysia Masters A 2R 2R ('25) [31]
Singapore Open A 1R 1R ('25)
Indonesia Open A 1R 1R ('25)
Japan Open A 2R 2R ('25)
Baoji China Masters N/A QF A QF ('24)
Hong Kong Open A 1R 1R ('25)
China Masters A 1R 1R ('25) [32]
Korea Open A 2R 2R ('25)
Denmark Open A 1R 1R ('25) [33]
French Open A 1R 1R ('25) [34]
Japan Masters N/A A F F ('25) [21]
Australian Open A 1R 1R ('25) [35]
Syed Modi International A 1R A 1R ('23)
Indonesia Masters Super 100 A 1R A 1R ('19)
Akita Masters QF A N/A QF ('18)
Year-end ranking 265 214 211 131 26 17
Tournament 2018 2019 2023 2024 2025 2026 Best Ref
Mixed doubles
Event 2021 2022 2023 2024 Ref
Asian Championships NH QF 1R 1R
Asian Games NH 1R NH
World Championships B 3R 2R NH [9]
Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Malaysia Open A NH 1R 1R 2R 2R ('24)
India Open A NH A QF 1R QF ('23)
Indonesia Masters A 1R A 2R 2R 2R ('23,'24)
Thailand Masters A 2R NH A QF QF ('24) [11]
German Open A NH 1R SF A SF ('23)
French Open A NH A 2R 2R 1R 2R ('22,'23)
All England Open A 1R QF 1R QF ('23) [36][37]
Swiss Open A NH A 1R 2R A 2R ('23)
Thailand Open A NH QF A QF ('22)
Malaysia Masters A NH 1R QF A QF ('23)
Singapore Open A NH A 1R A 1R ('23)
Indonesia Open A 2R 1R 1R A 2R ('21)
Australian Open A NH QF QF A QF ('22,'23)
Canada Open A NH A SF A SF ('23)
Japan Open A NH 1R 1R A 1R ('22,'23)
Korea Open A NH A 1R A 1R ('23)
Hong Kong Open A NH 1R A 1R ('23)
Vietnam Open 2R NH A 2R ('19)
China Open A NH 2R A 2R ('23)
Denmark Open A QF 1R A QF ('22)
Japan Masters N/A QF A QF ('23)
China Masters A NH 2R A 2R ('23)
Syed Modi International A NH A QF A QF ('23)
Indonesia Masters Super 100 1R NH A 1R ('19)
Akita Masters F NH N/A F ('19) [7]
Year-end ranking 73 73 42 13 17 60 13
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Best Ref

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 12 March 2026.[38]

References

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