is a retired Japanese

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

player who was affiliated with Unisys badminton team. She is an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

gold medalist, two-time Asian Champion, two-time

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

silver medalist, and

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

bronze medalist. Playing for the Unisys team with her regular partner

Misaki Matsutomo is a Japanese badminton player who is a doubles specialist. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympic women's doubles alongside Ayaka Takahashi. Despite playing doubles, she was also a finalist in girls' singles at the 2010 BWF World J ...

in the women's doubles, she won five National Championships titles. In the international event, Takahashi and Matsutomo were ranked world number ones in October 2014. They won numerous international titles, including the year-end tournament finals in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

; the historical All England Open in 2016; the Olympic Games in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

; and also the Asian Championships in

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. The duo won the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine membe ...

's Female Player of the Year award in 2016. Takahashi was also a member of the victorious Japanese team at the 2017 Asia Mixed Team Championships and of the victorious women's team at the 2018 Asia Team Championships,

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

, and the 2018 Uber Cup.

Career

In 2016, Takahashi and

won the women's doubles gold medal at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, became the first ever Japan's to win an Olympic badminton gold medal. She and her women's doubles partner Matsutomo also honored with the Female Player of the Year award. They are playing together for more than ten years, ever since they were schoolmates. Takahashi and Matsutomo became the first pair from outside China to win the women's Olympic doubles title since the 1996 Atlanta Games, giving Japan its second medal in the event after Mizuki Fujii and

Reika Kakiiwa is a Japanese badminton player from Renesas badminton club. Reika Kakiiwa has gained prominence in the badminton community because of her success in women's doubles. She has reached a career high ranking of third in the world with her partner M ...

took silver at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Takahashi announced her retirement in an online conference on 19 August 2020, and officially left the national and Unisys team at the end of August.

Personal life

Takahashi is the older sister of

Sayaka Takahashi is a retired Japanese badminton player who was a singles specialist. She was the bronze medalist at the 2013 and 2014 Asian Championships. Takahashi reached a career high as world number 10 in the BWF World Ranking in February 2019. Personal ...

, a singles badminton player. In 2020, Ayaka announced that she had married Yuki Kaneko, a teammate in both the Japanese national and Unisys teams. Kaneko is also Matsutomo's mixed doubles partner.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Women's doubles''

BWF World Championships

''Women's doubles''

Asian Games

''Women's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Women's doubles''

BWF World Tour (6 titles, 6 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

(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''

BWF Superseries (9 titles, 13 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Women's doubles'' :

BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series c ...

tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

tournament

BWF Grand Prix (7 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 2 runners-up)

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

Performance timeline

National team

* ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

* ''Senior level''

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

Misaki Matsutomo

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Takahashi, Ayaka 1990 births Living people People from Kashihara, Nara Sportspeople from Nara Prefecture Japanese female badminton players Badminton players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2014 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games World No. 1 badminton players BWF Best Female Player of the Year