is a Japanese

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player who specializes in doubles. He is a member of the Japanese national team and is affiliated with the NTT East team. Competing in mixed doubles with partner

Naru Shinoya is a Japanese badminton player. She is affiliated with the NTT East team. Career 2021 Shinoya, together with her partner Kyohei Yamashita, won the mixed doubles bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships after losing in the semifinals ...

, he achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 13 in the discipline. Yamashita won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the

2021 BWF World Championships The 2021 BWF World Championships (officially known as the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2021 for sponsorship reasons) was a badminton tournament which took place from 12 to 19 December 2021 at Palacio de los Deportes Carolina Marín in ...

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

with Shinoya. He has also earned team bronze medals representing Japan at the

2023 Sudirman Cup The 2023 Sudirman Cup (officially known as the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th edition of the Sudirman Cup, the biennial international badminton championship contested by the mixed national teams o ...

and the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

. Following Shinoya's retirement in 2024, Yamashita shifted his focus to men's doubles, reuniting with partner

Hiroki Midorikawa is a Japanese badminton player and a member of the national team. He primarily competes in mixed doubles with Natsu Saito, reaching a career-high world ranking of No. 8 as of 13 May 2025. Together, they won two Super 500 titles – the 2023 ...

. The pair has secured multiple International Challenge titles and reached a career-high men's doubles world ranking of No. 27.

Career

2021

Kyohei Yamashita won the mixed doubles bronze medal at the

after losing in the semifinals to compatriots

Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Chiba Jets Funabashi of the B.League. He played college basketball in the United States for the George Washington Colonials (now Revolutionaries), becoming the first Japanese-born studen ...

and

Arisa Higashino is a Japanese badminton player. She won bronze in the mixed team event at the Badminton Asia Junior Championships, Asian Junior Championships in 2013 and 2014, and competed at the 2014 BWF World Junior Championships, 2014 World Junior Champions ...

, 13–21, 8–21.

2024

In the first half of 2024, Yamashita partnered with

in mixed doubles, pursuing qualification for the

Paris 2024 Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. On the BWF World Tour, their highest finish was a quarterfinal at the

Thailand Masters The Thailand Masters was a professional snooker tournament. Previously known as Asian Open and Thailand Open, it was a Snooker world rankings, ranking tournament from 1989/90 to 2001/02. An event called the ''Thailand Masters'' also formed part o ...

. Despite competing in several high-level tournaments, including the

All England Open The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

, the pair did not qualify for the Olympics. Their partnership concluded on April 2024, following Shinoya's retirement from the national team. Yamashita then shifted his focus to men's doubles with

. As their world ranking had fallen due to the earlier focus on mixed doubles, they returned to the international circuit in August. The pair won two consecutive titles at the International Challenge level, the

Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...

and the

North Harbour International The North Harbour International (also known as North Shore City International) is an open international badminton tournament in New Zealand. This was the first international tournament hosted on the North Shore of Auckland. This tournament organize ...

. These results led to a climb in their ranking, reaching a career high of No. 104 as of 28 October 2024. In domestic competitions, Yamashita and Midorikawa swept Japan's three major men's doubles titles in 2024: the Japan Ranking Circuit, the All Japan Members Badminton Championships, and the All Japan Badminton Championships.

2025

Yamashita continued his men's doubles partnership with Midorikawa into 2025 season. In March, they reached the semifinals of the

Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with ...

. In the first round, they upset the world No. 2 ranked Malaysian pair,

Goh Sze Fei Goh Sze Fei ( zh, t=吳世飛, p=Wú Shìfēi; born 18 August 1997) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was a silver medalist in the 2024 Asian Championships. Goh was part of the Malaysia winning team in the 2022 Asia Team Championships. He ...

and

Nur Izzuddin Nur Izzuddin bin Mohd Rumsani (born 11 November 1997) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was a silver medalist in the 2024 Badminton Asia Championships, 2024 Asian Championships. Izzuddin was part of the Malaysia winning team in the 2022 Badm ...

, before losing to the eventual champions,

Kittinupong Kedren Kittinupong Kedren (; born 19 July 1996) is a Thai badminton player. He was the gold medalists at the 2014 BWF World Junior Championships in the boys' doubles event with his partner Dechapol Puavaranukroh, and later at the 2017 SEA Games in th ...

and

Dechapol Puavaranukroh Dechapol Puavaranukroh (; born 20 May 1997) is a Thai badminton player. He was a gold medalist at the 2014 BWF World Junior Championships in the boys' doubles event with his partner Kittinupong Kedren. Dechapol claimed doubles titles at the Badmi ...

of Thailand. In May, they also reached the semifinals of the

Taipei Open The Taipei Open or Taipei WTA Challenger () was a tournament for female professional tennis players played on indoor carpet courts. The event was classified as a WTA 125K series, WTA 125 tournament, and held annually in November in Taipei Cit ...

. Yamashita was part of the Japanese team that won a bronze medal at the

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tourn ...

held in Xiamen. On 22 July 2025, Yamashita and Midorikawa reached a career-high men's doubles world ranking of No. 27.

Achievements

BWF World Championships

''Mixed doubles''

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 The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(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. ''Mixed doubles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles)

''Men'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 Junior International (1 title, 1 runner-up)

''Boys' doubles'' : BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

Performance timeline

National team

* ''Junior level'' * ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

Senior level

=Men's doubles

=Mixed doubles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamashita, Kyohei 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Okayama Prefecture Japanese male badminton players Badminton players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan Asian Games bronze medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games badminton players for Japan Nippon Sport Science University alumni 21st-century Japanese sportsmen