Noriko Nakayama

Noriko Nakayama (中山 紀子, Nakayama Noriko; née Takagi; born 30 May 1943) is a Japanese former badminton player, the first true international badminton star from that nation, who won numerous Japanese national and major international titles from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

BornNoriko Takagi
高木 紀子
(1943-05-30) 30 May 1943 (age 83)

Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan

Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)

CountryJapan

SportBadminton

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Noriko Nakayama

Personal information
Born	Noriko Takagi 高木 紀子 (1943-05-30) 30 May 1943 (age 83) Kakegawa, Shizuoka, Japan
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
Country	Japan
Sport	Badminton
Handedness	Right
Event	Women's singles and doubles
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  Japan Uber Cup 1966 Wellington Women's team 1969 Tokyo Women's team 1972 Tokyo Women's team 1975 Jakarta Women's team 1978 Auckland Women's team Asian Games 1966 Bangkok Women's singles 1966 Bangkok Women's team 1966 Bangkok Women's doubles

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Nakayama claimed seven of these at the Danish Open, two in singles and five in women's doubles. She was the champion at World Invitational Championships held in Glasgow, in 1969 in Women's doubles category with Hiroe Amano. At the prestigious All-England Championships she shared the women's doubles title with her compatriot and singles rival Hiroe Yuki in 1971, and won the singles title over Yuki in 1972, having previously lost twice in the finals.^[1] She also won the women's singles event at the Olympic Games Demonstration in 1972. In four successive Uber Cup (women's international team) competitions, between 1965 and 1975 she was unbeaten in singles, thus leading the way to three world team titles for Japan.^[2] With the birth of her eldest daughter, she hung her racket in 1975. As of 2017, she is still actively associated with the sport, coaching at the local level.