is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with the BIPROGY team. She and her partner Rin Iwanaga won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Championships and a bronze medal at the 2025 World Championships. The pair have won numerous BWF World Tour titles, including their first Super 750 title at the 2024 Denmark Open. The duo reached a career-high ranking of world number 4 on 11 March 2025.
Early career Nakanishi began playing badminton in elementary school and won prefectural tournaments during her junior high years. At Omiya Higashi High School, she began to specialize in doubles. In 2012, she partnered with her senior Nozomi Okuhara to win the National Sports Festival junior women's doubles title.
After high school, Nakanishi attended Waseda University, where she studied in the Faculty of Sport Sciences and later captained the badminton team. In 2017, she won the women's singles title at the All Japan Student Championships (Inter-Collegiate) and the mixed doubles title at the All Japan Student Mixed Doubles Tournament with Minoru Koga. That same year, she won the Japan Ranking Circuit in mixed doubles with Yuki Kaneko. For these collegiate achievements, she received the Azusa Ono Memorial Sports Award and the Sports Honorary Award. Nakanishi graduated from Waseda in March 2018 and began her professional career the following month by joining the Nihon Unisys team, now known as BIPROGY.
Career 2018–2020 In 2018, Nakanishi partnered with Chisato Hoshi to win her first international title at the Austrian International, followed by her first BWF World Tour title at the Super 100 Russian Open. Additionally, she partnered with Arisa Higashino to reach the semifinals of the New Zealand Open and finished as a runner-up at the All Japan Members Championships.
In 2019, Nakanishi established a new, long-term women's doubles partnership with Rin Iwanaga. The duo claimed titles at the South Australia International and the Dubai International, and finished as runners-up at the Dutch Open. The pair's 2020 season was severely restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Competing only in domestic tournaments, they reached the quarterfinals at the All Japan Championships.
2021 In 2021, Nakanishi and Iwanaga reached their first Super 500 final at the Hylo Open, finishing as runners-up to compatriots Chisato Hoshi and Aoi Matsuda. Earlier that year, the pair won the Belgian International. They also competed in the Indonesia Masters and the Indonesia Open at the Indonesia Badminton Festival in Bali but were eliminated in the early rounds of both tournaments. In December, they made their World Championship debut held in Huelva, reaching the quarterfinals. By the end of the year, they entered the top 30 world rankings, reaching world No. 26.
2022 Nakanishi and Iwanaga won a silver medal at the Asian Championships in Manila, losing to the then-World No. 1 pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China. In August, they participated in the World Championships in Tokyo, where they were eliminated in the third round. Throughout their 2022 World Tour campaign, Nakanishi and Iwanaga lost in the early rounds of each tournament they entered. They reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 15 as of 24 October.
2023 In 2023, Nakanishi and Iwanaga won their first BWF World Tour title at the Super 300 Syed Modi International. They also reached the semifinals of the Arctic Open and the Denmark Open. At the Denmark Open, they defeated two Chinese pairs—Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning, and Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu—before losing to Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan. Additionally, they reached the quarterfinals in five other tournaments: the India Open, the Thailand Open, the Singapore Open, the Korea Open, and the Australia Open.
2024 Nakanishi and Iwanaga began the year by reaching their first Super 1000 quarterfinal at the Malaysia Open, defeating third seeds Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong. Later in the season, they won five consecutive titles, which included their first Super 750 title at the Denmark Open. This undefeated run in finals also included victories at the Spain Masters, Malaysia Masters, U.S. Open, and Canada Open. En route to the Denmark Open title, they defeated Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee in the semifinals, achieving their first win against that pair. In the final, they beat the Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists and then-world No. 1 pair Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. They competed in the BWF World Tour Finals but were eliminated in the round-robin stage. They reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 5 as of 4 November.
2025 Nakanishi's 2025 season began while her partner Iwanaga was recovering from injuries sustained in late 2024. The pair won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Paris, losing in the semifinals to the eventual gold medalists Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. On the BWF World Tour, the duo reached three finals, finishing as runners-up at the Super 750 Singapore Open, Super 500 Hong Kong Open, and Super 500 Korea Open. They also reached the quarterfinals at the All England Open, the Asian Championships, and the Indonesia Open. Nakanishi and Iwanaga achieved a new career-high ranking of World No. 4 on 11 March. In team competitions, Nakanishi contributed to Japan's bronze medal finishes at the Asia Mixed Team Championships and the Sudirman Cup.
2026 In 2026, Nakanishi and Iwanaga reached the final of the Super 500 Thailand Open, finishing as runners-up to Bao Lijing and Cao Zihan. Nakanishi won a bronze medal as part of the Japanese women's team at the Uber Cup in Horsens. At the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi–Nagoya, she won silver in the women's team event, sealing Japan's 3–1 semi-final victory over South Korea. In women's doubles, she won bronze after defeating fourth seeds Jia Yifan and Zhang Shuxian, before losing in the semi-finals to eventual champions Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee.
Achievements World Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2025 Adidas Arena, Paris, France Rin Iwanaga Liu Shengshu Tan Ning 15–21, 4–21 Bronze
Asian Games Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2026 Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, Ichinomiya, Japan Rin Uesaka Baek Ha-na Lee So-hee 13–21, 12–21 Bronze
Asian Championships Women's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2022 Muntinlupa Sports Complex,Metro Manila, Philippines Rin Iwanaga Chen Qingchen Jia Yifan 11–21, 15–21 Silver
BWF World Tour (7 titles, 8 runners-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 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.
Women's doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2018 Russian Open Super 100 Chisato Hoshi Chow Mei Kuan Lee Meng Yean 21–11, 21–18 Winner 2019 Dutch Open Super 100 Rin Iwanaga Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva 10–21, 20–22 Runner-up 2021 Hylo Open Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Chisato Hoshi Aoi Matsuda 20–22, 18–21 Runner-up 2023 Syed Modi International Super 300 Rin Iwanaga Tanisha Crasto Ashwini Ponnappa 21–14, 17–21, 21–15 Winner 2024 Spain Masters Super 300 Rin Iwanaga Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi 12–21, 21–8, 21–16 Winner 2024 Malaysia Masters Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Lee Yu-lim Shin Seung-chan 17–21, 21–19, 21–18 Winner 2024 U.S. Open Super 300 Rin Iwanaga Laksika Kanlaha Phataimas Muenwong 21–19, 21–15 Winner 2024 Canada Open Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Hsu Yin-hui Lin Jhih-yun 21–13, 21–13 Winner 2024 Denmark Open Super 750 Rin Iwanaga Liu Shengshu Tan Ning 21–18, 21–14 Winner 2025 Singapore Open Super 750 Rin Iwanaga Kim Hye-jeong Kong Hee-yong 16–21, 14–21 Runner-up 2025 Hong Kong Open Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Jia Yifan Zhang Shuxian 15–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2025 Korea Open Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Kim Hye-jeong Kong Hee-yong 19–21, 12–21 Runner-up 2025 Arctic Open Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Pearly Tan Thinaah Muralitharan 7–21, 9–21 Runner-up 2025 Japan Masters Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Pearly Tan Thinaah Muralitharan 20–22, 19–21 Runner-up 2026 Thailand Open Super 500 Rin Iwanaga Bao Lijing Cao Zihan 21–19, 16–21, 19–21 Runner-up
BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles) Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2018 Austrian International Chisato Hoshi Sayaka Hobara Natsuki Sone 21–15, 21–18 Winner 2019 South Australia International Rin Iwanaga Setyana Mapasa Gronya Somerville 21–15, 19–21, 21–9 Winner 2019 Dubai International Rin Iwanaga Alexandra Bøje Mette Poulsen 18–21, 21–15, 21–17 Winner 2021 Belgian International Rin Iwanaga Julie MacPherson Ciara Torrance 21–12, 21–15 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament
References
External links
Kie Nakanishi at Badminton Association of Japan
Kie Nakanishi at BIPROGY Kie Nakanishi at J Sports Kie Nakanishi at Smash and Net TV