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. She is the gold medalist at the

2019 BWF World Junior Championships The 2019 BWF World Junior Championships was the twenty-first edition of the BWF World Junior Championships. It was held in Kazan, Russia at the Kazan Gymnastics Center from 30 September to 13 October 2019. Host city selection The original winner ...

in the girls' singles.

Career

Gunji was the finalist in the Under-15 at the 2016 Singapore Youth International Series. In the same tournament, she won the girls' doubles title with partner Akari Nakashizu. She was the girls' singles Under-17 champion of 2017 Singapore Youth International Series beating Peeraya Khantaruangsakul of Thailand. She won the bronze medal in 2018 BWF World Junior Championships mixed team event. In the girls' singles, she lost in the second round to China's

Wang Zhiyi Wang Zhiyi (; born 29 April 2000) is a Chinese badminton player from Shashi, Jingzhou, in Hubei province. She was two-time Asian Champions winning the title in 2022 and 2024. She was part of China winning team in the 2020 and 2024 Uber Cup, as ...

. In 2019, she reached the final of Dutch Junior International where she earned second best position after losing to China's Han Qianxi. She lost another final at the India Junior International event to Thai player Benyapa Aimsaard. In 2019 World Junior Championships, she entered the tournament seeded 7th. She went on to stun several higher seeded players in the tournament. She defeated Thailand's

Phittayaporn Chaiwan Lalinrat Chaiwan (; born Pattarasuda Chaiwan (), 21 February 2001) is a Thai badminton player. She has shown her talent as a badminton player in the junior event tournament. She changed her first name to Phittayaporn () after visiting a temple fo ...

in semifinal, who was a top seeded player in 2 straight games. In the final she won the World Junior title, beating out China's Zhou Meng.

2025

Gunji was selected as a member of the 2025 Japan National Team, coached by

Takako Ida is a former Japanese badminton player. Born in Saitama Prefecture, Ida graduated from Saitama High School. Career She was part of the national women's team that competed at the 1994 and 1998 Asian Games, winning the bronze medals in both e ...

and

Shōji Satō is a retired Japanese badminton player from NTT East team. He now works as a NTT East singles coach. Career Sato started to playing badminton when he was a kid, influenced by his parents who used to playing badminton as a hobby. He then join ...

Achievements

World Junior Championships

''Girls' singles''

BWF World Tour (1 title, 2 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 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. ''Women's singles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (8 titles, 3 runners-up)

''Women's singles'' :

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

BWF Junior International (2 runners-up)

''Girls' singles'' : BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

Performance timeline

National team

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

Individual competitions

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

Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 16 December 2024.

References

External links

*
Riko Gunji
at

Japanese Olympic Committee The is the National Olympic Committee in Japan for the Olympic Games movement, based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams and raises funds to send Japanese competitors to Olympic events organised by the Internati ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunji, Riko 2002 births Living people People from Ebina, Kanagawa Sportspeople from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese female badminton players 21st-century Japanese sportswomen