Riku Hatano

is a Japanese badminton player who specializes in singles. He is a former member of the Japanese national team (2021-2024) and has been a member of the Tonami Transportation team since 1 April 2020. Hatano won his first international title at the 2022 Slovak Open and was part of the Japanese squad that won a bronze medal at the 2022 Thomas Cup. He reached a career-high ranking of world No. 44 on 17 June 2025.

Early life and career

Early life and junior career

Riku Hatano began playing badminton at age of seven in Memuro, Hokkaido. In 2013, he reached the top 16 in singles at both the All Japan Elementary School Championships and the National Elementary School ABC Tournament. He later attended Obihiro Daiichi Junior High School, where his team placed in the top four at the 2016 National Junior High School Championships, and he reached the top 16 in singles.

At Saitama Sakae High School, Hatano won the boys' singles title at the 2018 All Japan Junior Badminton Championships ( JOC Junior Olympic Cup) by defeating teammate Takuma Kawamoto in the final. He was also the singles runner-up at the National High School Invitational Tournament in both 2018 and 2019. He advanced to the quarterfinals in singles at the 2019 National High School Championships (Inter-High).

International junior career

In 2018, Hatano and Takuma Kawamoto were runners-up in boys’ doubles at the Banthongyord Junior International, losing to China's Liang Weikeng and Shang Yichen. That year, he contributed to Japan's silver medal in the team event at the Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta but lost in the third round of the individual singles to India's Lakshya Sen. He reached the fourth round in singles at the World Junior Championships in Markham, Canada.

Transition to senior competition

In late 2019, while still in high school, Hatano began competing in senior men's singles events. He reached the round of 32 at the All Japan Badminton Championships, where he lost Kazumasa Sakai. He also advanced to the semifinals at the K&D Graphics International, where he lost to Kodai Naraoka.

Career

2020–2021

In April 2020, Hatano joined the Tonami Transportation badminton team. At the All Japan Badminton Championships in December, he reached the second round before being defeated by then-world No. 1 Kento Momota.

In 2021, Hatano was selected for the Japanese B national team for the first time. His international appearances were limited by the global COVID-19 pandemic's impact on travel, with his only tournament being the Belgian International, where he was eliminated in the second round. In recognition of his potential, he was featured in ''Badminton Magazine's'' "Rising Sun" profile series.

2022

In 2022, Hatano won his first senior international titles. He captured the Slovak Open, a BWF Future Series event, by defeating Chi Yu-jen of Chinese Taipei in the final. Later that year, he won the Réunion Open, an International Challenge tournament, over compatriot Yushi Tanaka. He also finished as the runner-up to Tanaka at the North Harbour International.

Hatano represented Japan in two major team competitions that year. At the Asia Team Championships, he secured a win in the group stage tie against Kazakhstan. However, he lost his matches against Singapore's then-reigning world champion, Loh Kean Yew and Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia, as Japan did not advance to the knockout stage. In May, Hatano was a member of the Japanese squad that won a bronze medal at the Thomas Cup in Bangkok. During 2022, Hatano improved his world ranking from No. 332 to a year-end position of No. 72.

2023

In 2023, Hatano made his BWF World Tour debut at the Super 300-level Thailand Masters, where he advanced through qualifying before being eliminated in the first round. He reached a then career-high world ranking of No. 60 on 13 March. His best results that year were semifinal appearances at two International Challenge tournaments: the Thailand International and the Saipan International.

2024

In May, the Nippon Badminton Association selected Hatano and Shogo Ogawa as sparring partners for the Japanese national team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Later that year, he was the runner-up at two International Challenge tournaments: the Malaysia International, where he was defeated by compatriot Minoru Koga, and the Indonesia International, where he lost to teammate Koo Takahashi. On the BWF World Tour, Hatano reached the semifinals of the Indonesia Masters Super 100 I and Malaysia Super 100. He also advanced to the quarterfinals at the Super 300 Macau Open. In October, he entered the top 50 of the BWF World Rankings.

2025

After four years as a member of the Japanese national team from 2021 to 2024, Hatano was not selected for the 2025 squad. He began the season on the BWF World Tour's European leg. At the German Open, he was defeated in the first round by two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in three games. He subsequently competed at the Swiss Open, where he won his opening match before losing in the second round to Weng Hongyang of China. Later, at the Canada Open, he reached the quarterfinals, where he was eliminated by compatriot Kodai Naraoka. On 17 June 2025, Hatano achieved a career-high BWF World Ranking of No. 44.

Achievements

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

''Men's singles''

: BWF International Challenge tournament
: BWF Future Series tournament

BWF Junior International (1 runner-up)

''Boys' doubles''

: BWF Junior International Challenge 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 5 July 2025.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatano, Riku
2001 births
Living people
Japanese male badminton players
Badminton players from Hokkaido