Noriko Nakayama

Noriko Nakayama (née Takagi; born 1943) is a Japanese former badminton player, the first true international badminton star from that nation, who won numerous Japanese national and major international titles from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

Noriko Nakayama

Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing Japan
Uber Cup
	1966 Wellington	Women's team
	1969 Tokyo	Women's team
	1972 Tokyo	Women's team
	1975 Jakarta	Women's team
	1978 Auckland	Women's team
Asian Games
	1966 Bangkok	Women's singles
	1966 Bangkok	Women's team
	1966 Bangkok	Women's doubles

Nakayama claimed seven of these at the Danish Open, two in singles and five in women's doubles. She was the champion at World Invitational Championships held in Glasgow, in 1969 in Women's doubles category with Hiroe Amano. At the prestigious All-England Championships she shared the women's doubles title with her compatriot and singles rival Hiroe Yuki in 1971, and won the singles title over Yuki in 1972, having previously lost twice in the finals. She also won the women's singles event at the Olympic Games Demonstration in 1972. In four successive Uber Cup (women's international team) competitions, between 1965 and 1975 she was unbeaten in singles, thus leading the way to three world team titles for Japan. With the birth of her eldest daughter, she hung her racket in 1975. As of 2017, she is still actively associated with the sport, coaching at the local level.

Achievements

Olympic Games (demonstration)

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1972	Munich, West Germany	Utami Dewi	11–5, 11–3	Gold

Asian Games

Women's singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result
1966	Kittikachorn Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Sumol Chanklum	11–0, 11–4	Gold

Women's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1966	Kittikachorn Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand	Kazuko Goto	Minarni Retno Kustijah	5–15, 11–15	Bronze

International tournaments

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result
1967	All England Open	Judy Hashman	11–5, 8–11, 10–12	Runner-up
1967	Denmark Open	Imre Rietveld	11–5, 11–3	Winner
1968	Singapore Open	Hiroe Yuki	11–7, 10–12, 11–4	Winner
1968	Denmark Open	Eva Twedberg	9–12, 12–9, 10–12	Runner-up
1969	All England Open	Hiroe Yuki	5–11, 5–11	Runner-up
1969	Denmark Open	Hiroe Yuki	10–12, 2–11	Runner-up
1971	U. S. Open	Hiroe Yuki	11–5, 11–9	Winner
1971	Canadian Open	Hiroe Yuki	9–12, 0–11	Runner-up
1971	Denmark Open	Hiroe Yuki	11–7, 11–7	Winner
1972	All England Open	Hiroe Yuki	11–5, 3–11, 11–7	Winner
1972	Denmark Open	Eva Twedberg	4–11, 6–11	Runner-up

Women's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1967	Singapore Open	Hiroe Amano	Minarni Retno Kustijah	6–15, 13–18	Runner-up
1967	Denmark Open	Hiroe Amano	Imre Rietveld Ulla Strand	15–12, 9–15, 15–8	Winner
1968	All England Open	Hiroe Amano	Minarni Retno Kustijah	5–15, 6–15	Runner-up
1968	Singapore Open	Hiroe Yuki	Rosalind Singha Ang Eva Twedberg	15–6, 15–11	Winner
1968	Denmark Open	Hiroe Amano	Karin Jørgensen Ulla Strand	15–11, 15–11	Winner
1969	Denmark Open	Hiroe Yuki	Hiroe Amano Tomoko Takahashi	15–9, 15–9	Winner
1970	Denmark Open	Hiroe Amano	Etsuko Takenaka Machiko Aizawa	17–15, 12–15, 9–15	Runner-up
1971	All England Open	Hiroe Yuki	Gillian Gilks Judy Hashman	15–10, 18–13	Winner
1971	U. S. Open	Hiroe Yuki	Ethel Marshall Dorothy O'Neil	15–8, 15–2	Winner
1971	Canadian Open	Hiroe Yuki	Etsuko Takenaka Machiko Aizawa	Walkover	Winner
1971	Denmark Open	Hiroe Yuki	Etsuko Takenaka Machiko Aizawa	15–10, 15–3	Winner
1972	Denmark Open	Hiroe Yuki	Etsuko Takenaka Machiko Aizawa	15–11, 11–15, 17–15	Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
1968	Singapore Open	Svend Andersen	Sangob Rattanusorn Pachara Pattabongse	15–8, 15–11	Winner