Natsu Saito

Natsu Saito
Personal information
Born (2000-06-09) 9 June 2000
Saitama Prefecture, Japan[1]
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
CountryJapan
SportBadminton
HandednessRight
Coached byNorio Imai
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking7 (XD with Hiroki Midorikawa, 21 October 2025)
127 (WD with Minami Kawashima, 17 March 2020)
Current ranking124 (XD with Akira Koga, 10 February 2026)
BWF profile
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  Japan
Sudirman Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2025 Xiamen Mixed team
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2025 Ningbo Mixed doubles
Asia Mixed Team Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2025 Qingdao Mixed team
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Yogyakarta Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Markham Mixed team
Asian Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Jakarta Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Jakarta Mixed team

Natsu Saito (齋藤 夏, Saito Natsu; born 9 June 2000) is a Japanese badminton player.[2] As of 2025, she is affiliated with the Plenty Global Linx badminton team. Saito is a mixed doubles specialist, best known for her partnership with Hiroki Midorikawa. Together, they reached a career-high world ranking of 7, won two World Tour Super 500 titles, and secured the silver medal at the 2025 Asian Championships.

Career

2015–2018: Junior career

Saito made her international debut at the junior level in 2015, reaching the final of the girls' doubles at the Asian U17 Junior Championships with Rumi Yoshida.[3] In 2017, she represented Japan at the World Junior Championships, helping the team secure a bronze medal. That same year, she won the mixed doubles title at the India Junior International with Takuma Obayashi.[4]

In 2018, Saito and partner Hiroki Midorikawa won the mixed doubles title at the German Junior.[5] She was also part of the Japanese squads that won silver at the Asian Junior Championships and a bronze at the World Junior Championships.

2019–2020: Senior debut

Saito began competing in senior international tournaments in 2019. In mixed doubles with Midorikawa, she won titles at the Waikato International and the Vietnam International.[6][7] She also competed in women's doubles with Naru Shinoya, winning the Malaysia International and reaching the final of the Indonesia International.[8][9] Additionally, she reached the final of the White Nights tournament with Minami Kawashima.[10] By March 2020, Saito reached a career-high world ranking of 127 in women's doubles.

2021–2022: International Challenge titles and Super 100 final

In October 2021, Saito and Midorikawa won the mixed doubles title at the Belgian International.[11] The pair defended this title during the 2022 season.[12] In September 2022, they reached the final of the Super 100 Canada Open, finishing as runners-up.[13] Saito competed in her first Super 500 event at the Korea Open in April 2022, reaching the quarterfinals. In women's doubles, she reached the semifinals of the Bendigo International with Kawashima.[14]

2023: First World Tour title

Saito and Midorikawa began 2023 by reaching the semifinal of the Thailand Masters. In July, they won their first World Tour title at the Super 500 Canada Open, defeating the Danish pair Mathias Thyrri and Amalie Magelund.[15] The following month, Saito reached the final of the Super 500 Australian Open, finishing as runner-up to Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping.[16] In the latter half of the season, she reached the semifinal at both the Hong Kong Open and the Arctic Open.

2024: Super 500 final and first World Tour Finals

Saito and Midorikawa opened the season with a quarterfinal finish at the Malaysia Open. In late January, they reached the final of the Super 500 Indonesia Masters, finishing as runners-up to the Chinese pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong.[17] Throughout the year, Saito achieved semifinal results at the Thailand Masters and the Baoji China Masters, as well as quarterfinal appearances at the China Open and the Japan Masters. She concluded the season by qualifying for the BWF World Tour Finals in December, where the pair was eliminated in the group stage.

2025: Super 500 title and partnership conclusion

Saito and Midorikawa began the 2025 season with quarterfinal finishes at the Malaysia Open and India Open. In late January, the pair won the Super 500 Indonesia Masters title, defeating Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui in straight games.[18] In March, Saito transferred to the Plenty Global Linx badminton team.[19] At the Asian Championships in Ningbo, she and Midorikawa advanced to the final but were defeated by Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet, securing the silver medal.[20] Saito also represented Japan in team events, winning bronze medals at both the Asia Mixed Team Championships in February and the Sudirman Cup in April.[21][22] Later in the season, the pair reached the quarterfinals of the World Championships and the semifinals of the Denmark Open.[23] In October, they achieved a career-high world ranking of 7. Saito and Midorikawa concluded their partnership at the BWF World Tour Finals in December, where they advanced to the semifinals.[24][25]

2026: New partnership

Following the conclusion of her partnership with Hiroki Midorikawa, Saito formed a new mixed doubles pair with Akira Koga. The pair made their international debut at the season-opening Malaysia Open, where they advanced to the second round after defeating compatriots Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara.[26]

Achievements

Asian Championships

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2025 Ningbo Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium,
Ningbo, China 		Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Hong Kong Tang Chun Man
Hong Kong Tse Ying Suet 		15–21, 21–17, 13–21 Silver Silver [20]

BWF World Tour (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[27] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[28]

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2022 Canada Open Super 100 Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Chinese Taipei Ye Hong-wei
Chinese Taipei Lee Chia-hsin 		21–12, 12–21, 15–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [13]
2023 Canada Open Super 500 Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Denmark Mathias Thyrri
Denmark Amalie Magelund 		21–17, 16–21, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [15]
2023 Australian Open Super 500 Japan Hiroki Midorikawa China Feng Yanzhe
China Huang Dongping 		14–21, 21–16, 15–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [16]
2024 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Japan Hiroki Midorikawa China Zheng Siwei
China Huang Yaqiong 		15–21, 16–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [17]
2025 Indonesia Masters Super 500 Japan Hiroki Midorikawa China Guo Xinwa
China Chen Fanghui 		21–15, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [18]

BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 2 runners-up)

Women's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2019 White Nights Japan Minami Kawashima Japan Yukino Nakai
Japan Nao Ono 		21–18, 17–21, 13–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [10]
2019 Indonesia International Japan Naru Shinoya Indonesia Anggia Shitta Awanda
Indonesia Pia Zebadiah Bernadet 		19–21, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [9]
2019 Malaysia International Japan Naru Shinoya Indonesia Yulfira Barkah
Indonesia Agatha Imanuela 		21–15, 21–23, 21–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [8]

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2019 Waikato International Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Australia Simon Leung
Australia Gronya Somerville 		21–15, 21–13 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [6]
2019 Vietnam International Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Thailand Vichayapong Kanjanakeereewong
Thailand Ruethaichanok Laisuan 		21–16, 21–8 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [7]
2021 Belgian International Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Denmark Jesper Toft
Denmark Clara Graversen 		21–18, 21–9 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [11][29]
2022 Belgian International Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Chinese Taipei Chiu Hsiang-chieh
Chinese Taipei Lin Xiao-min 		21–13, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [12]
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

BWF Junior International (2 titles, 3 runners-up)

Girls' doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2017 German Junior Japan Rin Iwanaga South Korea Kim Min-ji
South Korea Seong Ah-yeong 		16–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [30]

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2017 India Junior International Japan Takuma Obayashi Indonesia Rinov Rivaldy
Indonesia Angelica Wiratama 		18–21, 21–16, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [4]
2018 Dutch Junior Japan Hiroki Midorikawa China Guo Xinwa
China Liu Xuanxuan 		21–16, 18–21, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [31]
2018 German Junior Japan Hiroki Midorikawa South Korea Wang Chan
South Korea Jeong Na-eun 		19–21, 21–18, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [5]
2018 Banthongyord Junior International Japan Hiroki Midorikawa Thailand Kunlavut Vitidsarn
Thailand Lalinrat Chaiwan 		21–23, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [32]
  BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament
  BWF Junior International Challenge tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 24 December 2025.[33]

Hiroki Midorikawa

References

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  2. ^ "Natsu SAITO | Profile". bwfbadminton.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  3. ^ Wong, Gerard (11 October 2015). "Singapore shuttlers win singles and doubles gold in Indonesia". Todayonline.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Indonesia Wins One Title in India". Kompas.com (in Indonesian). 3 September 2017. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b "YONEX German Junior: The Winners". German Badminton Association (in German). 14 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
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  9. ^ a b Tegar, Bimo (28 October 2019). "(Caffino Indonesia International Challenge) Successfully Held, Indonesia Takes Three Titles" (in Indonesian). Djarum Badminton. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
  10. ^ a b Liew, Vincent (14 July 2019). "Iskandar Zulkarnain wins 2019 White Nights International Challenge". BadmintonPlanet.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
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