Mayu Matsumoto (松本 麻佑, Matsumoto Mayu, born 7 August 1995) is a Japanese badminton player.[2] Born in Hokkaido, she graduated from Shiritsu Towanomorisanai High School.[3] She was part of the Hokuto Bank team.[4] Matsumoto was awarded as the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year by the BWF together with her partner Wakana Nagahara. They obtained the honor after their win in the 2018 BWF World Championships title and improving their ranking from 14 to 3 in the world.[5] In 30 April 2019, she reached a career high as a women's doubles world No. 1.
Career
2013–2016
In 2013, Matsumoto was selected to join the national junior team compete in the Asian Junior Championships. Played in three categories women's singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, she unable to win a single medal in the individual event. She won a bronze medal after Japanese team finished in the semi-finals. In 2014, she captured two title, winning the women's doubles title in the Smiling Fish International with Wakana Nagahara, and the women's singles title in the Indonesia International.[6] She and Nagahara also reached the finals in a Grand Prix event, Russian Open.[7] In 2015, she finished runner-up in the women's singles in the Russian Open, losing to Czechia Kristína Gavnholt.[8]
In 2016, Matsumoto and Nagahara reached two finals in the Grand Prix event, the U.S. and Thailand Opens.[9][10] She claimed her first ever Grand Prix title in the 2017 Canada Open, winning the women's doubles with Nagahara.[11] They then matched their previous year's achievement in the U.S. Open by becoming runners-up.[12]
2018–2019
Matsumoto focused on competing in the women's doubles event in 2018. Together with Nagahara, she showed significant achievements. They won the gold medal in the 2018 World Championships,[13] won two World Tour title in the Spain Masters and French Open,[14][15] as well three runners-up in the Indonesia, China, and Fuzhou China Opens.[16][17][18] During the season, the duo was improving their ranking from 14 to 3 in the world and then awarded as the 2018 Most Improved Player of the Year by the BWF.[5]
In March, Matsumoto and her partner Nagahara won their first World Tour Super 1000 title in the All England Open defeating their compatriots, the defending champion, and current world number 1, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the final.[24] She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnering Nagahara as 3rd seeds, and her pace was stopped by Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong of South Korea in the quarter-finals.[25]
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 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[28]
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
