On the 21st local time, the Japan Badminton Association announced the list of the 2025 national team lineup, and the mixed doubles star Yuta Watanabe, who won the bronze medal in two consecutive Olympic Games, was shockingly defeated. The 27-year-old Yuta Watanabe won the bronze medal with Arisa Higashino at the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics, and the two broke up after playing the Japan Open Badminton Championships last year, Yuta Watanabe changed to 19-year-old Masaya Taguchi, and Arisa Higashino switched to the women's doubles court, with Ayako Sakuramoto.
Yuta Watanabe (left)
On the same day, the Japan Badminton Association announced the members of the 2025 national team, and in the mixed doubles list, Yuta Watanabe was not among them, and he did not see the name of Taguchi Masai, and both of them were defeated. Yuta Watanabe/Masaya Taguchi stopped in the round of 16 at the India Open Badminton Championships last week, and the two played the Super 500 Series 2025 Indonesia Badminton Masters this week, and successfully passed the qualifying round on the 21st and reached the main event.
The 2025 Japan badminton team lineup is as follows
Men's Singles: Shogo Ogawa, Yuta Okimoto, Takahashi Hiroshi, Takei Rinse, Tanaka Yongshi, Naraoka Kodai, Nishimoto Kenta, Watanabe Hangki
Women's Singles: Yona Akeji, Nozomi Okuhara, Riko Koji, Kaoru Sugiyama, Asuka Takahashi, Natsuki Nihei, Yuka Miyazaki, Akane Yamaguchi
Men's Doubles: Tori Aizawa/Daisuke Sano, Yoki Okamura/Kenya Mihashi, Sho Kumagai/Daiki Nishi, Yuichi Shigami/Takumi Nomura, Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, Kyohei Yamashita/Daiki Midorikawa
Women's Doubles: Arisa Igarashi/Ayako Sakuramoto, Mochizuki Otake/Miyu Takahashi, Chiyo Shida/Naomi Matsuyama, Takaei Nakanishi/Suzu Iwanaga, Yuki Fukushima/Mayu Matsumoto
Mixed Doubles: Yuichi Shigami/Ayantsu Hohara, Daiki Nishi/Naru Sato, Daiki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito