Kokona Ishikawa Explained

is a Japanese badminton player who competes in doubles.^[1] A bronze medalist in girls' doubles at the 2022 World Junior Championships, she has won a World Tour Super 100 title at the 2025 Kaohsiung Masters. Ishikawa achieved a career-high women's doubles ranking of No. 26 on 27 January 2026. A former member of the Japanese national team, she plays for the Gifu Bluvic badminton team.

Early career

Born in Tokyo, Ishikawa attended Aomori Yamada Junior and Senior High Schools, where she won several national titles.^[2] In 2021, she and Hina Osawa won the girls' doubles title at the National High School Invitational Tournament, for which they received the All Japan High School Athletic Federation's Excellent Player Award.^{[3] [4]} She also won the All Japan Junior Open doubles with Miyu Ogasawara.^[5]

The following year, she partnered with Riko Kiyose to win the girls' doubles title at the National High School Championships (Inter-High).^[6] As team captain, she also led Aomori Yamada to a second consecutive victory in the girls' team event at the National Sports Festival.^[7] For these achievements, Ishikawa and Kiyose were presented with the 17th Tō-Ō Nippō Sports Award.^[8]

On the international junior circuit in 2022, Ishikawa won the girls' singles title at the Malaysia Junior International, defeating compatriot Tomoka Miyazaki in the final. She won two bronze medals at the 2022 World Junior Championships, in the mixed team event and in girls' doubles with Kiyose. The pair was defeated in the semifinals by the eventual champions, Liu Shengshu and Wang Tingge of China. At her high school graduation on 1 March 2023, Ishikawa received the school's Chairman's Special Award.^[9] She joined the NTT East badminton team in April 2023.

Career

2023–2024: Senior debut and first international title

Ishikawa partnered with Mio Konegawa from 2023 to 2024, and the pair was selected for the 2024 Japanese national team. With Konegawa, she won her first senior international title at the 2024 Saipan International. The pair also finished as runners-up at four tournaments: the 2023 Thailand International, the 2023 Bahrain International, the 2024 Vietnam International, and the 2024 Denmark Challenge. They achieved a career-high women's doubles ranking of No. 35 on 10 December 2024.

2025: First World Tour title

In 2025, Ishikawa transferred to the Gifu Bluvic badminton team and formed a new partnership with Ririna Hiramoto.^[10] The duo won the Northern Marianas Open in August; at the same tournament, Ishikawa finished as the mixed doubles runner-up with Haruki Kawabe.

Later that year, Ishikawa and Hiramoto secured their first BWF World Tour title at the Super 100 Kaohsiung Masters in September. They also finished as runners-up at the Super 100 Indonesia Masters I and reached the semifinals of the Indonesia Masters II. The pair concluded the 2025 season with a semifinal appearance at the Super 500 Australian Open.

2026

Ishikawa and Hiramoto opened the season with a Super 1000 debut at the Malaysia Open. The pair advanced to the quarter-finals, where they were defeated by the eventual champions, Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning. Following this tournament, Ishikawa achieved a career-high world ranking of 27 on 13 January.

Achievements

World Junior Championships

Girls' doubles

BWF World Tour (1 title, 1 runner-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[12] 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.^[13]

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2025	Indonesia Masters	Super 100	Ririna Hiramoto	Lin Xiao-min Wang Yu-qiao	17–21, 9–21	Runner-up	[14]
2025	Kaohsiung Masters	Super 100	Ririna Hiramoto	Hinata Suzuki Nao Yamakita	21–16, 21–17	Winner	[15]

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

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2023	Thailand International	Mio Konegawa	Kim Yu-jung Lee Yeon-woo	19–21, 11–21	Runner-up	[16]
2023	Bahrain International	Mio Konegawa	Gabriela Stoeva Stefani Stoeva	19–21, 14–21	Runner-up	[17]
2024	Vietnam International	Mio Konegawa	Laksika Kanlaha Phataimas Muenwong	19–21, 14–21	Runner-up	[18]
2024	Denmark Challenge	Mio Konegawa	Laksika Kanlaha Phataimas Muenwong	16–21, 18–21	Runner-up	[19]
2024	Saipan International	Mio Konegawa	Kim Hye-jeong Kim Yu-jung	21–19, 11–21, 21–18	Winner	[20]
2025	Northern Marianas Open	Ririna Hiramoto	Hinata Suzuki Nao Yamakita	21–17, 21–15	Winner	[21] [22]

Mixed doubles

BWF International Challenge tournament

BWF International Series tournament

BWF Junior International (1 title)

Girls' singles

BWF Junior International Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team

Junior level

Individual competitions

Junior level

Girls' doubles

Senior level

Women's doubles

Tournament				Best	Ref
	2024	2025	2026
Malaysia Open	A		QF	QF ('26)	[25]
India Open	A		1R	1R ('26)	[26]
Thailand Masters	A		2R	2R ('26)
All England Open	A		1R	1R ('26)
Ruichang China Masters	SF	2R	Q	SF ('24)	[27]
Japan Open	1R	2R		2R ('25)	[28]
Macau Open	A	Q1		Q1 ('25)	[29]
Baoji China Masters	SF	A		SF ('24)
China Masters	2R	A		2R ('24)
Indonesia Masters Super 100	A	F		F ('25)
		SF			[30]
Korea Open	2R	A		2R ('24)
Kaohsiung Masters	A	W		W ('25)
Denmark Open	1R	A		1R ('24)
Korea Masters	A	2R		2R ('25)	[31]
Japan Masters	1R	1R		1R ('24, '25)	[32]
Australian Open	A	SF		SF ('25)	[33]
Year-end ranking	2024;	35	2025;	37	2026;		Best;	26
Tournament	2024	2025	2026	Best	Ref

Mixed doubles

Tournament	BWF World Tour	Best	Ref
	2025
Japan Masters	1R	1R ('25)
Year-end ranking	135	129
Tournament	2025	Best	Ref

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 4 March 2026.^[34]

Ririna Hiramoto

Players
Liu Shengshu & Tan Ning	1	0	1	–1
Apriyani Rahayu & Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti	1	0	1	–1
Baek Ha-na & Lee So-hee	1	0	1	–1

Maiko Kawazoe

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kokona ISHIKAWA Profile. Badminton World Federation. 24 December 2024.
2. Web site: Kokona ISHIKAWA Profile . Badminton S/J League . 20 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250323041106/https://www.sj-league.jp/team_playerinfo/team/2024/women/ntt-east/13.html . 23 March 2025 . ja . live.
3. Web site: High School Invitational (2021): Osawa & Ishikawa win the girls' doubles! Suizu achieves a double crown, winning the girls' singles and team event! (Girls' Individual) . Badminton Spirit . 20 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250612150056/https://www.badspi.jp/202103282330/ . 12 June 2025 . ja . 29 March 2021 . live.
4. Web site: List of Reiwa 3 (2021) All Japan High School Athletic Federation Award Recipients for Distinguished Service and Excellent Players . All Japan High School Athletic Federation . 20 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241228115025/https://www.kotairen.asn.ed.jp/kakusyou/koutairensyou/R3koutairensyou.pdf . 28 December 2024 . ja . live.
5. Web site: All-Japan Women's Junior Open: Aomori Yamada's Ishikawa & Ogasawara win the all-school final! (Doubles) . Badminton Spirit . 20 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250715135003/https://www.badspi.jp/202111072100/ . 15 July 2025 . ja . 7 November 2021 . live.
6. Web site: Girls' badminton doubles: Ishikawa/Kiyose team (Aomori Yamada) wins Inter-High School Championships . Daily Tōhoku . 16 December 2024 . ja . 28 July 2022.
7. Web site: Tochigi National Sports Festival: 'Win with Spirit' – Aomori's Tenacious Comeback Victory in Girls' Youth Badminton . Daily Tohoku . 20 September 2025 . https://archive.today/20250920171306/https://www.daily-tohoku.news/archives/132177 . 20 September 2025 . ja . 12 October 2022 . live.
8. Web site: 17th Tō-Ō Nippō Sports Award . Tō-Ō Nippō . 20 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250920150627/https://www.toonippo.co.jp/list/sports/toosports2022-gyouseki . 20 September 2025 . ja . live.
9. Web site: The Aomori Yamada High School Graduation Ceremony Was Held . Aomori Yamada High School . 20 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250920172534/https://www.aomoriyamada-jhs.jp/information/1114 . 20 September 2025 . ja . 1 March 2023 . live.
10. gifubluvic . DFhjLr7Bexx . Gifu Bluvic . 1 February 2025 . [Announcement of joining Gifu Bluvic] Today, 1 February, Kokona Ishikawa joined Gifu Bluvic . ja . 21 September 2025 . live . https://archive.today/20250920114618/https://www.instagram.com/p/DFhjLr7Bexx/ . 20 September 2025.
11. Web site: Sukumar . Dev . World Juniors: Tireless Kuo Keeps Going . Badminton World Federation . 23 August 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230528133500/https://bwfbadminton.com/news-single/2022/10/30/world-juniors-tireless-kuo-keeps-going/ . 28 May 2023 . 30 October 2022.
12. Web site: Alleyne . Gayle . BWF Launches New Events Structure . . 19 March 2017 . 20 September 2025 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171201164159/http://bwfbadminton.com/news-single/2017/03/19/bwf-launches-new-event-structure/ . 1 December 2017.
13. Web site: Sukumar . Dev . Action-Packed Season Ahead! . Badminton World Federation . 10 January 2018 . 20 September 2025 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180113162925/http://bwfworldtour.com/news-single/2018/01/10/action-packed-season-ahead/ . 13 January 2018.
14. Web site: Sakai . Kazumasa . Indonesia Masters I 2025 Results . Badminton Association of Japan . 25 September 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250925210051/https://www.badminton.or.jp/games/2025/IndonesiaMasters2025.html#day6 . 25 September 2025 . ja . 21 September 2025 . live.
15. Web site: Kaohsiung Masters 2025 [Super 100] Results ]. NTT East . 3 October 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251003141810/https://www.ntt-east.co.jp/symbol/badminton/contents/r_20250923_02.html . 3 October 2025 . ja . 29 September 2025.
16. Web site: Thailand International Series 2023 [IS] Match Results ]. NTT East . 23 August 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250125224833/https://www.ntt-east.co.jp/symbol/badminton/contents/r_20230919.html . 25 January 2025 . ja . 24 September 2023.
17. Web site: Sipra . Adnan . Koga rallies to down Takei in thriller for men’s singles title . Gulf Daily News . 24 August 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250622044703/https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1296817 . 22 June 2025 . 27 November 2023.
18. Web site: Thailand won 2 championships in Vietnam . Badminton Thai Today . 23 August 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250823200159/https://badmintonthaitoday.com/news_detail.php?nid=4343 . 23 August 2025 . th . 18 March 2024.
19. Web site: "Ken-Jomjam" win the women's doubles championship at the Denmark Challenge 2024 . Badminton Thai Today . 23 August 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240523174751/https://badmintonthaitoday.com/news_detail.php?nid=4406 . 23 May 2024 . th . 12 May 2024.
20. Web site: 13 July 2024 . Thrilling Conclusion: Champions Crowned at DOVE Saipan International 2024 Finals . 25 December 2024 . Badminton Oceania.
21. Web site: Japan Dominates Finals at CROWNE PLAZA Northern Marianas Open . Badminton Oceania . 10 August 2025 . https://archive.today/20250810160141/https://badmintonoceania.org/cpnmo-finals/ . 10 August 2025 . 11 August 2025.
22. Web site: Sablan Jr. . James . Japan sweeps Crowne Plaza badminton titles . Marianas Variety . 14 August 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250812073801/https://www.mvariety.com/sports/localsports/japan-sweeps-crowne-plaza-badminton-titles/article_70ca5dce-9065-4617-9210-bc7a2447ffc8.html . 12 August 2025 . 12 August 2025.
23. Web site: Peter . Fabian . Juniors need a booster shot . New Straits Times . 5 August 2025 . https://archive.today/20250525094201/https://www.nst.com.my/sports/badminton/2022/09/830233/juniors-need-booster-shot . 25 May 2025 . 10 September 2022.
24. Web site: [World Junior Championships 2022] Japan loses to powerhouse South Korea 0-3. Finishes with a bronze medal ]. Badminton Spirit . 14 August 2025 . https://archive.today/20240707050850/https://www.badspi.jp/202210222018/ . 7 July 2024 . ja . 22 October 2022.
25. Web site: Shi leads Chinese shuttlers to advance into Malaysia Open 2026 semi-finals . China Daily . 11 January 2026 . https://web.archive.org/web/20260111173753/https://www.chinadailyasia.com/hk/article/626790 . 11 January 2026 . 10 January 2026.
26. Web site: Badminton India Open 2026: Live Updates, Japanese Team Results, and Summary . International Olympic Committee . 19 January 2026 . https://web.archive.org/web/20260119042350/https://www.olympics.com/ja/news/badminton-india-open-2026-team-japan-results-full-list . 19 January 2026 . ja . 18 January 2026.
27. Web site: Komiyama . Hajime . Ruichang China Masters 2025 Results . Badminton Association of Japan . 25 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20250908160009/https://www.badminton.or.jp/games/2024/RuichangChinaMasters2025.html#day3 . 8 September 2025 . ja . 17 March 2025.
28. Web site: Match Report: Day 3 of the Tournament . Daihatsu Japan Open . 25 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251125122728/https://daihatsu-japan-open.com/2025/news/report_0717.html . 25 November 2025 . ja . 17 July 2025.
29. Web site: Hayakawa . Kenichi . Macau Open 2025 Results . Badminton Association of Japan . 25 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251125125307/https://www.badminton.or.jp/games/2025/MacauOpen2025.html . 25 November 2025 . ja . 4 August 2025.
30. Web site: Wondr by BNI Indonesia Masters 2025: Apri/Fadia to Meet Hira/Jani in the Final . Badminton Association of Indonesia . 25 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251125124213/https://pbsi.id/2025/10/25/wondr-by-bni-indonesia-masters-2025-apri-fadia-jumpa-hira-jani-di-final/ . 25 November 2025 . id . 25 October 2025.
31. Web site: Badminton Korea Masters 2025: Live Updates, Japanese Team Results, and Summary . International Olympic Committee . 24 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251124054301/https://www.olympics.com/ja/news/badminton-iksan-victor-korea-masters-2025-tracker . 24 November 2025 . ja . 10 November 2025.
32. Web site: Badminton Kumamoto Masters 2025: Live Updates, Japanese Team Results, and Summary . International Olympic Committee . 24 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251124052030/https://www.olympics.com/ja/news/badminton-kumamoto-masters-japan-2025-tracker . 24 November 2025 . ja . 16 November 2025.
33. Web site: Australian Open 2025: Indonesia Will Definitely Get 2 Titles . Voice of Indonesia . 24 November 2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20251124050159/https://voi.id/en/amp/536093 . 24 November 2025 . 22 November 2025.
34. Web site: Kokona ISHIKAWA – Head To Head . Badminton World Federations . 8 January 2026.