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 women's doubles. Partnering with Yuna Kato, she reached a career-high world ranking of No. 18 on 23 May 2023. They won their first BWF World Tour title at the

Indonesia Masters Super 100 The Indonesia Masters Super 100 is an annual badminton tournament held in Indonesia. This tournament is a part of the BWF World Tour tournaments and is leveled in BWF Tour Super 100. This tournament offers prize money of US$100,000. Starting fro ...

and were runners-up at three Super 300 tournaments: 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 ...

, the

Korea Masters The Korea Masters () is an international badminton tournament that usually held in November or December every year of BWF event calendar in South Korea. The total prize money in 2016 was US$120,000. Before 2010, the level of the tournament was an ...

, and the

Orléans Masters The Orléans Masters championships is an open badminton tournament held in France. This tournament is organized by the Cercle Laïque des Tourelles Orléans Badminton and held in the Palais des Sports in Orléans. This tournament began as a reg ...

. Hirokami was also a member of the Japanese team that won a bronze medal at the Asia Team Championships. In March 2025, she transferred to the

Yonex is a Japanese sports equipment manufacturing company. Yonex produces equipment and apparel for tennis, badminton, golf, and running. Its range of products manufactured and commercialized includes equipment for badminton and tennis ( rackets, s ...

badminton team and formed a new partnership with Sayaka Hobara.

Career

2022: First World Tour title and world No. 25 ranking

In 2022, Rui Hirokami partnered with Yuna Kato in women's doubles. On the

BWF World Tour The BWF World Tour is a Grade 2 badminton tournament series, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It is a competition open to the top world ranked players in singles (men's and women's) and doubles (men's, women's and mixed). The compet ...

, they were runners-up at two tournaments: the

(Super 300), losing to Hong Kong's Ng Tsz Yau and Tsang Hiu Yan, and the

Canada Open The Canada Open () in badminton is an international open held in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Oce ...

(Super 100), losing to compatriots

Rena Miyaura is a Japanese badminton player. Miyaura won her first World Tour title in 2022. She announced her retirement in June 2024. Career She won her first World Tour title at the 2022 Canada Open partnering with Ayako Sakuramoto, defeating compat ...

and

Ayako Sakuramoto is a Japanese badminton player. She is a member of the Yonex team. She specializes in women's doubles and has achieved success in numerous tournaments. These include the Asian Junior Championships, BWF World Tour, BWF Grand Prix, and BWF Intern ...

. They won their first BWF World Tour title at the

, defeating Miyaura and Sakuramoto in the final. They also secured two International Challenge titles: the Mexican International and the

Belgian International The Belgian International is an international badminton open tournament, held since 1958 but in irregular periods. Since 2005, Yonex has become title sponsor of the event, which also become an International Challenge tournament within the Badminto ...

. Hirokami contributed to Japan's bronze medal at the Asia Team Championships in Selangor. Starting the year unranked, they elevated their

world ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items, often recorded in a list, such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than", or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak ...

to No. 25 by 26 December 2022.

2023: Korea Masters runner-up and career-high world ranking

In 2023, Hirokami and Kato continued their women's doubles partnership on the BWF World Tour, reaching a career-high world ranking of No. 18 on 23 May 2023. In November, they finished as runners-up at the

(Super 300), losing to South Korea's

Jeong Na-eun Jeong Na-eun (; born 27 June 2000) is a South Korean badminton player affiliated with Hwasun County team. She was the silver medalist in the mixed doubles at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She was part of Korean winning team in the 2022 Uber Cup a ...

and

Kim Hye-jeong Kim Hye-jeong (; born 3 January 1998) is a South Korean badminton player. She has shown her potential as a badminton player since she was young. Kim entered the regular training in the second grade of elementary school in Wanwol-dong, Masan, and ...

. They also advanced to the quarterfinals 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 ...

and

Spain Masters The Spain Masters () is an annual badminton tournament held in Spain. This tournament is part of the BWF World Tour tournaments and is leveled in BWF World Tour Super 300. Venue & host city * 2018–2020: Pavelló de la Vall d'Hebron, Barcelon ...

(both Super 300). However, in higher-level tournaments (Super 500, Super 750, and Super 1000), they were eliminated in the early rounds.

2024: Orléans Masters runner-up

In 2024, Hirokami primarily partnered with Kato. Their best result was a runner-up finish at the

(Super 300) in March, where they were defeated by Indonesian pair

Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari Meilysa Trias Puspita Sari (born 11 May 2004) is an Indonesian badminton player. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, she won a silver in the girls' doubles and a bronze medal in the mixed team events. Career 2022 Puspita Sari and her p ...

and

Rachel Allessya Rose Rachel Allessya Rose (born 30 June 2004) is an Indonesian badminton player. She was part of Indonesia squad that won a bronze medal in the 2022 World Junior Championships and a silver medal in the girls' doubles event. Career 2022 Rose and ...

. The pair also reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in June and the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open in March. Early in the year, in higher-tier tournaments, they were eliminated in the first round of the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) and the

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

(Super 750) in January. Mid-year, Hirokami formed a temporary partnership with Rui Kiyama. This pair reached the quarterfinals of the

and the second round at the Macau Open. Hirokami later rejoined Kato for the Japan Masters in November, reaching the second round.

2025: New partnership

In March, Hirokami transferred from the Saishunkan Pharmaceutical to the

badminton team, forming a women's doubles partnership with Sayaka Hobara. Upon joining Yonex, Hirokami expressed her ambition to compete in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The pair debuted at the

in May, advancing to the semifinals. The following week, they reached the semifinals of the Thailand Open (Super 500) as qualifiers, marking a career-best World Tour performance for both players. They became the first qualifying doubles pair in any discipline to reach the Thailand Open semifinals since 2013.

Achievements

BWF World Tour (1 title, 4 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 doubles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles)

''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 Junior International (1 title)

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

References

External links

* *
Rui Hirokami
at BWFWorldTourFinals.BWFBadminton.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirokami, Rui Living people 2002 births Japanese female badminton players Sportspeople from Toyama Prefecture 21st-century Japanese sportswomen