Sayaka Hobara
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Hobara at the 2025 Taipei Open | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 July 1998 Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Badminton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Handedness | Left | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Norio Imai | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's & mixed doubles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | 14 (WD with Rui Hirokami, 17 March 2026) 17 (XD with Yuichi Shimogami, 20 January 2026) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current ranking | 14 (WD with Rui Hirokami) 17 (XD with Yuichi Shimogami) (17 March 2026) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BWF profile | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sayaka Hobara (保原 彩夏, Hobara Sayaka; born 30 July 1998) is a Japanese badminton player.[1][2] A left-handed player from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, she is a former World Junior Champion, winning the girls' doubles title in 2016 with Nami Matsuyama.[3] She competes in both women's and mixed doubles, achieving career-high world rankings of No. 14 in women's doubles and No. 17 in mixed doubles. Hobara was a member of the Japanese team that won the bronze medal at the 2025 Sudirman Cup.
2022
In 2022, Hobara partnered with Hinata Suzuki in women's doubles. On the BWF World Tour, their best result was a semifinal finish at the Taipei Open. They also reached the quarterfinals at the Super 500 Singapore Open and at two Super 100 events: the Canada Open and the Indonesia Masters. At the International Challenge level, they finished as runners-up at the Indonesia International.[4]
2023
In 2023, Hobara partnered with Yui Suizu in women's doubles. They won the Mexican International and finished as runners-up at both the Saipan International and the Indonesia International.[5][6][7] On the World Tour, their best results were semifinal finishes at the Korea Masters and the Indonesia Masters II. The pair achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 39 on 21 November 2023.
2024
In 2024, Hobara focused exclusively on mixed doubles, partnering with Yuichi Shimogami. On the World Tour, the pair finished as runner-up at the Malaysia Super 100 and had semifinal finishes at the Ruichang China Masters and the Vietnam Open.[8] At the International Challenge level, they won the Northern Marianas Open and finished as runners-up at the Saipan International.[9][10]
2025
In 2025, Hobara began a new women's doubles partnership with Rui Hirokami. The pair reached the semifinals at three World Tour Super 500 tournaments: the Taipei Open, the Thailand Open, and the Hong Kong Open.[11][12][13] At the Thailand Open, they were the first qualifying doubles pair in any discipline to reach the semifinals since 2013.[14] En route to the Hong Kong Open semifinals, they upset the newly crowned world champions Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.[13]
Continuing her mixed doubles partnership with Yuichi Shimogami, Hobara reached the semifinals at the Taipei Open and the quarterfinals at the Singapore Open and Japan Open.[15][16] In this discipline, she made her debuts at both the World and Asian Championships and was a member of the Japanese team that won a bronze medal at the Sudirman Cup.[17] The pair achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 20 on 29 July.
