is a Japanese badminton player from Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. Competing in the women's singles event, she reached a career-high world ranking of No. 21. She is a member of the Japanese national team and plays for the Kumamoto Saishunkan badminton team. A former world No. 1 in the BWF World Junior Rankings, she won the Asian Junior U-15 and U-17 championships in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and claimed three titles in girls' singles on the BWF junior circuit. She won her first BWF World Tour title at the Super 300 Syed Modi International in 2025 and has secured seven International Challenge/Series titles. In team events, she contributed to Japan securing bronze medals at the 2022 Asia Team Championships and the 2026 Uber Cup.

Early career Akechi began playing badminton at the age of six in her hometown of Osaka at the Uriwari Nishi SSC. She transferred from Kuze Junior High School in Osaka Prefecture to Yanai Junior High School in Yamaguchi Prefecture. She then attended Yanai Shoko High School, where she was part of a team that won four consecutive national team championships. At the 2021 National High School Championships (Inter-High), she won the doubles title and was a semifinalist in singles. In 2022, she won the singles title at the National High School Invitational Championships.

On the international junior circuit, Akechi won the U-15 Asia Junior Championships in 2018 and the U-17 title in 2019. In 2022, she won the Croatia and Bulgaria Junior Open tournaments. At the World Junior Championships that year, she earned a bronze medal in the mixed team event and reached the girls' singles quarterfinals. On 9 May 2023, she was ranked world number 1 in the BWF World Junior Rankings for girls' singles.

Career 2022–2024: Senior debut and first World Tour final In February 2022, Akechi was part of the Japanese squad that secured a bronze medal at the Asia Team Championships. Later that year, she made her senior international debut at the Slovenia Future Series, where she won the women's doubles title partnering Sorano Yoshikawa and finished runner-up in women's singles to Tomoka Miyazaki. After finishing as the runner-up at the Osaka International in March 2023, Akechi joined the Kumamoto Saishunkan badminton team the following month. She went on to claim four international titles that season: the Luxembourg Open, the Swedish Open, the Mauritius International, and the Réunion Open. She also made her World Tour debut at the Indonesia Masters Super 100, where she advanced to the quarterfinals. In 2024, she reached her first World Tour final at the Super 300 Orléans Masters, finishing as runner-up to Tomoka Miyazaki. Later that season, she defended her title at the Luxembourg Open, and won the Indonesia International. On the World Tour, she advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open and finished runner-up at the Indonesia Masters Super 100. She made her Super 500 debut at the Japan Masters in November, losing in the first round, and ended the season with a world ranking of 41.

2025

At the beginning of the 2025 season, Akechi was officially selected for Japan's senior national team. She began the year by reaching the quarterfinals of the German Open, followed by a first-round defeat against Chen Yufei at the Orléans Masters. She later advanced to the final of the Kaohsiung Masters, finishing as the runner-up to Nozomi Okuhara, and reached the semifinals at the Malaysia Super 100 and Korea Masters. In November, Akechi won her maiden World Tour title at the Super 300 Syed Modi International, defeating Neslihan Arın in straight games. By the end of the year, her world ranking had risen to 34.

2026 Akechi opened her 2026 season at the India Open, suffering a first-round loss to Tomoka Miyazaki. Later in January, she advanced to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Masters. In February, she represented Japan at the Asia Team Championships, where the women's team finished in fifth place. March brought her Super 1000 debut at the All England Open, resulting in a first-round exit against the eventual champion, Wang Zhiyi. In May, Akechi represented Japan at the Uber Cup in Horsens, where she contributed to the team securing a bronze medal. She subsequently reached consecutive Super 500 World Tour semifinals. At the Thailand Open, she upset third-seeded Ratchanok Intanon in the quarterfinals before losing to Chen Yufei. She followed this with a semifinal run at the Malaysia Masters, where she was once again defeated by Chen. On 2 June 2026, Akechi achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 21.

Achievements BWF World Tour (1 title, 3 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 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.

Women's singles Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result Ref 2024 Orleans Masters Super 300 Tomoka Miyazaki 21–18, 21–12 Runner-up 2024 (I) Indonesia Masters Super 100 Riko Gunji 10–21, 20–22 Runner-up 2025 Kaohsiung Masters Super 100 Nozomi Okuhara 16–21, 17–21 Runner-up 2025 Syed Modi International Super 300 Neslihan Arın 21–16, 21–14 Winner

BWF International Challenge/Series (7 titles, 3 runners-up) Women's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref 2022 Slovenia Future Series Tomoka Miyazaki 14–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2023 Osaka International Shiori Saito 15–21, 13–21 Runner-up 2023 Luxembourg Open Chiang Ying-li 18–21, 21–15, 21–12 Winner 2023 Swedish Open Lo Sin Yan 21–12, 21–14 Winner 2023 Mauritius International Aditi Bhatt 21–13, 21–17 Winner 2023 Réunion Open Kaoru Sugiyama 22–20, 21–10 Winner 2024 Luxembourg Open Riko Gunji 21–16, 21–14 Winner 2024 Denmark Challenge Riko Gunji 22–20, 16–21, 11–21 Runner-up 2024 (I) Indonesia International Chiara Marvella Handoyo 11–21, 21–18, 21–7 Winner

Women's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref 2022 Slovenia Future Series Sorano Yoshikawa Rui Kiyama Kanano Muroya 24–22, 21–16 Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament

BWF Junior International (3 titles) Girls' singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result Ref 2016 Singapore Youth International Thamonwan Nithiittikrai 21–12, 21–19 Winner 2022 Croatia Junior Open Sora Ishioka 17–21, 21–13, 21–14 Winner 2022 Bulgaria Junior Open Sora Ishioka 21–16, 21–14 Winner BWF Junior International Challenge tournament BWF Junior International Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team Junior level Team events 2022 Ref World Junior Championships B

Senior level Team events 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Ref Asia Team Championships B NH A NH 5th Uber Cup A NH A NH B

Individual competitions Junior level Events 2022 Ref World Junior Championships QF

Senior level Tournament BWF World Tour Best Ref 2023 2024 2025 2026 India Open A 1R 1R ('26) Thailand MastersA QF QF ('26) German OpenA QF A QF ('25) All England Open A 1R 1R ('26) Swiss OpenA 1R 1R ('26) Orléans Masters A F 1R 1R F ('24) Thailand Open A 1R SF SF ('26) Malaysia Masters A 1R SF SF ('26) Singapore Open A 2R 2R ('26) Indonesia Open A 1R 1R ('26) Macau Open NH 1R QF A QF ('25) U.S. Open A SF A SF ('24) Japan Open A 1R 1R ('26) China Open A 1R 1R ('26) Taipei Open A 1R A 1R ('25) Korea Masters A 1R SF QF SF ('25) China Masters A 1R 1R ('26) Indonesia Masters Super 100 A F 2R A F ('24) QF A QF Arctic Open A 1R 1R ('26) Denmark Open A Q ('26) Malaysia Super 100 A 1R SF A SF ('25) French Open A Q ('26) Korea Open A Q ('26) Japan Masters A 1R 2R Q 2R ('25) Kaohsiung MastersA F A F ('25) Syed Modi InternationalA W W ('25) Guwahati MastersA SF SF ('25) Year-end ranking 102 41 34 34 Tournament 2023 2024 2025 2026 Best Ref

Wins over top-10 ranked players Wins over players who were ranked in the world's top 10 at the time the match was played.

# Opponent Tournament Score 1 Ratchanok Intanon 7 2026 Thailand Open QF 21–13, 21–16 28

Record against selected opponents Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 15 July 2026.

Player Matches Win Lost Chen Yufei 4 0 4 –4 Wang Zhiyi 1 0 1 –1 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 1 0 1 –1

Player Matches Win Lost Nozomi Okuhara 7 1 6 –5 An Se-young 1 0 1 –1 Ratchanok Intanon 1 1 0 +1

References

External links

Hina Akechi at Badminton Association of Japan Hina Akechi at Kumamoto Saishunkan Badminton Team Hina Akechi at J Sports Hina Akechi at Smash and Net TV