is a Japanese badminton player who competes in singles. He is a former member of the Japanese national team (2018–2022) and is currently affiliated with the AC Nagano Parceiro Badminton Club. His junior international achievements include a gold medal in mixed doubles at the 2013 Asian Youth Games and bronze medals with the national team at the 2014 Asian and World Junior Championships. While studying at Waseda University, he won the men's singles title at the All Japan Intercollegiate Championships in 2017 and 2018. On the BWF World Tour, his best result was a runner-up finish at the 2018 Canada Open.

Early life and career Born in Fukuoka, Japan, Koga began playing badminton at the age of six at the Okagaki Junior club. During his childhood, he faced health challenges, including asthma, pneumonia, and severe food allergies. With dietary management supported by his parents, he developed a tactical playing style to compensate for his smaller stature. In 2011, while a second-year student at Tomioka Daiichi Junior High School in Fukushima Prefecture, he was practicing when the ceiling lights fell due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. He temporarily evacuated to his hometown in Fukuoka, but the local community prepared a new practice environment for him in Inawashiro just two months later. Deeply motivated to bring hope to the disaster-stricken region, he went on to sweep five titles at the national junior high school championships.

Junior career Koga won national singles titles across all three major junior age divisions: the All Japan Elementary School Championships (2008), the All Japan Junior High School Championships (2011), and the National High School Championships (Inter-High) (2014). At the 2014 Inter-High, he defeated Kanta Tsuneyama in the singles final and led Tomioka High School to the team title. Internationally, Koga partnered with Akane Yamaguchi to win the mixed doubles gold medal at the 2013 Asian Youth Games. He was also a member of the Japanese team that won bronze medals at both the 2014 Asian and World Junior Championships.

Collegiate career In 2015, Koga enrolled at Waseda University to study sport sciences. He won back-to-back men's singles titles at the All Japan Intercollegiate Championships in 2017 and 2018. In his final year, he captained the Waseda team to a national intercollegiate team title.

Career 2018–2021: First international title In 2018, while still a university student, Koga was selected for the Japanese national B team for the first time. That same year, he reached the final of the Super 100 Canada Open. Entering the tournament ranked 396th in the world, he finished as the runner-up to Lu Guangzu. In March 2019, he was part of the squad that won silver at 2019 Asia Mixed Team Championships. Following his graduation, Koga joined the NTT East badminton team on 1 April 2019. He won his first senior international title at the 2019 Swedish Open, defeating Loh Kean Yew in the final. Later that year, he reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Vietnam Open, defeating Kunlavut Vitidsarn during his tournament run. However, his international career was temporarily suspended when overseas expeditions were halted for about two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestically, Koga won the All Japan Members Championships in 2019 and the Japan Ranking Circuit in 2021.

2022–2024: Five international titles and world top 60 In 2022, Koga resumed international competition, winning the Mexican International in April. After reaching only the quarter-finals of the All Japan Championships at the end of the year, he was dropped from the Japanese national team.

Despite his removal from the national team, Koga won Thailand International in March 2023 reaching a career-high world ranking of No. 56. He subsequently claimed titles at the Bahrain International, and Malaysia International titles. After competing in seven tournaments throughout 2023, he finished the year with a world ranking of No. 118. Domestically, he secured his second titles at both the All Japan Members Championships and the Japan Ranking Circuit in 2023.

In 2024, competing as a non-national team player, Koga participated in only three tournaments, successfully defending his Malaysia International title. Due to his limited participations, his world ranking dropped to No. 198 by the end of the year.

2025: Club transfer and two titles Having missed national team selection for three consecutive years, he lacked opportunities to compete overseas, and his world ranking fell to No. 265 by March. He briefly considered retirement, but later decided to self-fund his career with the aim of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. On 1 April 2025, he left his corporate position at NTT East to become a professional player affiliated with the AC Nagano Parceiro badminton club. This transition allowed him to independently acquire sponsors to cover his international travel and tournament fees. This professional shift led to a resurgence in his international performance; he won titles at the Slovenia Future Series and the Belgian International, and finished as runner-up at the Lagos International. Koga concluded the season by reaching the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International, where he defeated top seed Jason Teh in the quarter-finals before retiring from his semi-final match due to injury . By the end of 2025, his world ranking had improved from No. 284 in August to No. 86.

2026 Koga began 2026 by winning consecutive titles at the Estonian International and the Swedish Open, defeating Denmark's Mads Christophersen in both finals. Later that year, at the German Open, he advanced from the qualifying rounds to the quarter-finals. He defeated the second seed and world No. 6, Li Shifeng, in the first round, and Lee Cheuk Yiu in the second round, before losing to Toma Junior Popov in the quarter-finals. In May, Koga reached the semi-finals of the Baoji China Masters, where he lost to his compatriot Riki Takei. He achieved a new career-high ranking of world No. 49 in June 2026.

Personal life His elder brother, Akira Koga, is also a badminton player affiliated with JTEKT Stingers.

Achievements Asian Youth Games Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2013 Nanjing Sport Institute,Nanjing, China Akane Yamaguchi Dechapol Puavaranukroh Puttita Supajirakul 21–19, 19–21, 21–17 Gold

BWF World Tour (1 runner-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, 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 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's singles Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result Ref 2018 Canada Open Super 100 Lu Guangzu 15–21, 10–21 Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (10 titles, 3 runners-up) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref 2019 Slovenian International Sourabh Verma 17–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2019 Lao International Kodai Naraoka 20–22, 20–22 Runner-up 2019 Swedish Open Loh Kean Yew 21–11, 21–15 Winner 2022 Mexican International Jonathan Matias 10–21, 22–20, 21–13 Winner 2023 Thailand International Chi Yu-jen 15–21, 21–17, 22–20 Winner 2023 Malaysia International Takuma Kawamoto 21–17, 10–21, 21–11 Winner 2023 Bahrain International Riki Takei 11–21, 21–15, 21–18 Winner 2024 Malaysia International Riku Hatano 21–19, 15–21, 21–11 Winner 2025 Lagos International Prahdiska Bagas Shujiwo 17–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2025 Slovenia Future Series Cholan Kayan 21–17, 24–22 Winner 2025 Belgian International Julien Carraggi 21–14, 22–20 Winner 2026 Estonian International Mads Christophersen 21–18, 11–21, 21–12 Winner 2026 Swedish Open Mads Christophersen 21–16, 16–21, 21–18 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team Junior level Team events 2014 Ref Asian Junior Championships B World Junior Championships B

Senior level Team events 2019 Ref Asia Mixed Team Championships S

Individual competitions Junior level Boys' singles Events 2014 Ref Asian Junior Championships 2R World Junior Championships 2R

Mixed doubles Events 2013 Ref Asian Youth Games G

Senior level Men's singles Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Thailand Masters A NH A Q1 Q1 ('26) German Open A NH A QF QF ('26) Swiss Open A NH A Q1 Q1 ('26) Orléans Masters A NH A Q2 Q2 ('26) Baoji China Masters N/A A SF SF ('26) Malaysia Masters A NH A 1R 1R ('26) Australian Open A NH A 2R 2R ('26) U.S. Open A NH A 1R 1R ('26) Canada Open F 1R NH A 2R F ('18) Taipei Open A NH A 1R 1R ('26) Korea Masters A NH A 1R 1R ('26) Indonesia Masters Super 100 A 2R NH A A 2R 2R ('19, '25 II, '26 I) 2R A Vietnam Open 2R SF NH A SF SF ('19, '26) Arctic Open N/A A Q ('26) Malaysia Super 100 N/A A 2R A 2R ('25) Hylo Open A Q ('26) Korea Open A NH A Q ('26) Japan Masters N/A A 1R A 1R ('24) Kaohsiung Masters N/A 2R A 2R ('23) Syed Modi International A NH A SF SF ('25) Akita Masters QF 1R NH N/A QF ('18) Year-end ranking 144 94 104 123 82 118 198 89 82 Tournament 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 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 29 July 2026.

Player Matches Win Lost Shi Yuqi 1 0 1 –1 Zhao Junpeng 1 1 0 +1 Christo Popov 1 1 0 +1 Prannoy H. S. 1 0 1 –1 Kodai Naraoka 1 0 1 –1

Player Matches Win Lost Lee Zii Jia 1 0 1 –1 Loh Kean Yew 1 1 0 +1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 1 1 0 +1 Kantaphon Wangcharoen 1 1 0 +1 Nguyễn Tiến Minh 1 1 0 +1

References

External links

Minoru Koga at AC Nagano Parceiro Minoru Koga at Nippon Badminton Association (archived)