Natsu Saito

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Saito made her international debut at the junior level in 2015, reaching the final of the girls' doubles at the Asian U17 Junior Championships with Rumi Yoshida.^[3] In 2017, she represented Japan at the World Junior Championships, helping the team secure a bronze medal. That same year, she won the mixed doubles title at the India Junior International with Takuma Obayashi.^[4]

In 2018, Saito and partner Hiroki Midorikawa won the mixed doubles title at the German Junior.^[5] She was also part of the Japanese squads that won silver at the Asian Junior Championships and a bronze at the World Junior Championships.

Saito began competing in senior international tournaments in 2019. In mixed doubles with Midorikawa, she won titles at the Waikato International and the Vietnam International.^[6][7] She also competed in women's doubles with Naru Shinoya, winning the Malaysia International and reaching the final of the Indonesia International.^[8][9] Additionally, she reached the final of the White Nights tournament with Minami Kawashima.^[10] By March 2020, Saito reached a career-high world ranking of 127 in women's doubles.

In October 2021, Saito and Midorikawa won the mixed doubles title at the Belgian International.^[11] The pair defended this title during the 2022 season.^[12] In September 2022, they reached the final of the Super 100 Canada Open, finishing as runners-up.^[13] Saito competed in her first Super 500 event at the Korea Open in April 2022, reaching the quarterfinals. In women's doubles, she reached the semifinals of the Bendigo International with Kawashima.^[14]

Saito and Midorikawa began 2023 by reaching the semifinal of the Thailand Masters. In July, they won their first World Tour title at the Super 500 Canada Open, defeating the Danish pair Mathias Thyrri and Amalie Magelund.^[15] The following month, Saito reached the final of the Super 500 Australian Open, finishing as runner-up to Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping.^[16] In the latter half of the season, she reached the semifinal at both the Hong Kong Open and the Arctic Open.

Saito and Midorikawa opened the season with a quarterfinal finish at the Malaysia Open. In late January, they reached the final of the Super 500 Indonesia Masters, finishing as runners-up to the Chinese pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong.^[17] Throughout the year, the pair achieved semifinal finishes at the Thailand Masters and the Baoji China Masters, as well as quarterfinal appearances at the China Open and the Japan Masters. Their performance over the season qualified them for their first BWF World Tour Finals in December, where they were eliminated in the group stage.

Saito and Midorikawa began the 2025 season with quarterfinal finishes at the Malaysia Open and India Open. In late January, the pair won the Super 500 Indonesia Masters title, defeating Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui in straight games.^[18] In March, Saito transferred to the Plenty Global Linx badminton team.^[19] At the Asian Championships in Ningbo, she and Midorikawa advanced to the final but were defeated by Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet, securing the silver medal.^[20] Saito also represented Japan in team events, winning bronze medals at both the Asia Mixed Team Championships in February and the Sudirman Cup in April.^[21][22] Later in the season, the pair reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships and the semifinals of the Denmark Open.^[23] In October, they achieved a career-high world ranking of 7. Saito and Midorikawa concluded their partnership at the BWF World Tour Finals in December, where they advanced to the semifinals.^[24][25]

Following the conclusion of her partnership with Midorikawa, Saito formed a new mixed doubles pairing with Akira Koga. The duo made their international debut at the Malaysia Open in January, reaching the second round after defeating compatriots Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.^[26] They subsequently advanced to the semifinals of the Thailand Masters.^[27]

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Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2025	Ningbo Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Ningbo, China	Hiroki Midorikawa	Tang Chun Man Tse Ying Suet	15–21, 21–17, 13–21	Silver	[20]

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[28] 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.^[29]

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2022	Canada Open	Super 100	Hiroki Midorikawa	Ye Hong-wei Lee Chia-hsin	21–12, 12–21, 15–21	Runner-up	[13]
2023	Canada Open	Super 500	Hiroki Midorikawa	Mathias Thyrri Amalie Magelund	21–17, 16–21, 21–13	Winner	[15]
2023	Australian Open	Super 500	Hiroki Midorikawa	Feng Yanzhe Huang Dongping	14–21, 21–16, 15–21	Runner-up	[16]
2024	Indonesia Masters	Super 500	Hiroki Midorikawa	Zheng Siwei Huang Yaqiong	15–21, 16–21	Runner-up	[17]
2025	Indonesia Masters	Super 500	Hiroki Midorikawa	Guo Xinwa Chen Fanghui	21–15, 21–17	Winner	[18]

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2019	White Nights	Minami Kawashima	Yukino Nakai Nao Ono	21–18, 17–21, 13–21	Runner-up	[10]
2019	Indonesia International	Naru Shinoya	Anggia Shitta Awanda Pia Zebadiah Bernadet	19–21, 18–21	Runner-up	[9]
2019	Malaysia International	Naru Shinoya	Yulfira Barkah Agatha Imanuela	21–15, 21–23, 21–9	Winner	[8]

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2019	Waikato International	Hiroki Midorikawa	Simon Leung Gronya Somerville	21–15, 21–13	Winner	[6]
2019	Vietnam International	Hiroki Midorikawa	Vichayapong Kanjanakeereewong Ruethaichanok Laisuan	21–16, 21–8	Winner	[7]
2021	Belgian International	Hiroki Midorikawa	Jesper Toft Clara Graversen	21–18, 21–9	Winner	[11][30]
2022	Belgian International	Hiroki Midorikawa	Chiu Hsiang-chieh Lin Xiao-min	21–13, 21–17	Winner	[12]

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

Girls' doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2017	German Junior	Rin Iwanaga	Kim Min-ji Seong Ah-yeong	16–21, 14–21	Runner-up	[31]

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2017	India Junior International	Takuma Obayashi	Rinov Rivaldy Angelica Wiratama	18–21, 21–16, 21–17	Winner	[4]
2018	Dutch Junior	Hiroki Midorikawa	Guo Xinwa Liu Xuanxuan	21–16, 18–21, 19–21	Runner-up	[32]
2018	German Junior	Hiroki Midorikawa	Wang Chan Jeong Na-eun	19–21, 21–18, 21–17	Winner	[5]
2018	Banthongyord Junior International	Hiroki Midorikawa	Kunlavut Vitidsarn Lalinrat Chaiwan	21–23, 18–21	Runner-up	[33]

  BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

  BWF Junior International Challenge tournament