Nyl Kiyoshi Yakura (born 14 February 1993) is a Canadian badminton player.[1][2] He captured two gold medals at the Pan American Games, winning the men's doubles title in 2019 and 2023, and also a silver in the mixed doubles in 2019.[3][4] Yakura, who grew up in Pickering, Ontario, currently lives in Toronto and trains at the KC Badminton Club in Markham.[5] He has Japanese and Indonesian heritage. [6]

Nyl Yakura
Yakura at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Personal information
Birth nameNyl Kiyoshi Yakura
CountryCanada
Born (1993-02-14) 14 February 1993 (age 31)
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
ResidenceScarborough, Ontario, Canada
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight150 lb (68 kg)
HandednessRight
CoachKevin Cao
Men's singles & doubles
Highest ranking181 (MS 13 December 2012)
29 (MD with Jason Ho-Shue 28 June 2018)
59 (XD with Kristen Tsai 24 September 2019)
Current ranking35 (MD with Adam Dong),
223 (XD with Crystal Lai) (9 April 2024)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Canada
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Men's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Men's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2019 Lima Mixed doubles
Pan Am Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Campinas Men's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2016 Campinas Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2017 Havana Men's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2018 Guatemala City Men's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2019 Aguascalientes Men's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kingston Men's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2013 Santo Domingo Men's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2017 Havana Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2018 Guatemala City Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2021 Guatemala City Men's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2024 Guatemala City Men's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Aguascalientes Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 San Salvador Men's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2022 San Salvador Mixed doubles
Pan Am Mixed Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Santo Domingo Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Markham Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Campinas Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2017 Santo Domingo Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Guadalajara Mixed team
Pan Am Male Cup
Gold medal – first place 2018 Tacarigua Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2020 Salvador Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Acapulco Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2024 São Paulo Men's team
Pan Am Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Santo Domingo Boys' singles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Santo Domingo Boys' doubles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Santo Domingo Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2011 Kingston Boys' doubles
Gold medal – first place 2011 Kingston Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2011 Kingston Mixed team
BWF profile

Career edit

Yakura competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[7]

In June 2021, Yakura was named to Canada's Olympic team.[8] Competing in the men's doubles event with Jason Ho-Shue, his pace was stopped in the group stage.[9]

Achievements edit

Pan American Games edit

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Polideportivo 3,
Lima, Peru
  Jason Ho-Shue   Phillip Chew
  Ryan Chew
21–11, 19–21, 21–18   Gold
2023 Olympic Training Center,
Santiago, Chile
  Adam Dong   Fabrício Farias
  Davi Silva
19–21, 21–15, 21–18   Gold

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Polideportivo 3,
Lima, Peru
  Kristen Tsai   Joshua Hurlburt-Yu
  Josephine Wu
21–18, 12–21, 15–21   Silver

Pan Am Championships edit

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2013 Palacio de los Deportes Virgilio Travieso Soto,
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  Kevin Li   Adrian Liu
  Derrick Ng
21–17, 6–21, 16–21   Silver
2016 Clube Fonte São Paulo,
Campinas, Brazil
  Jason Ho-Shue   Phillipe Gaumond
  Maxime Marin
21–13, 21–13   Gold
2017 Sports City Coliseum,
Havana, Cuba
  Jason Ho-Shue   Austin Bauer
  Ty Alexander Lindeman
21–18, 21–6   Gold
2018 Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium,
Guatemala City, Guatemala
  Jason Ho-Shue   Phillip Chew
  Ryan Chew
21–17, 21–17   Gold
2019 Gimnasio Olímpico,
Aguascalientes, Mexico
  Jason Ho-Shue   Osleni Guerrero
  Leodannis Martínez
21–11, 20–22, 21–10   Gold
2021 Sagrado Corazon de Jesus,
Guatemala City, Guatemala
  Jason Ho-Shue   Phillip Chew
  Ryan Chew
Walkover   Silver
2022 Palacio de los Deportes Carlos "El Famoso" Hernández,
San Salvador, El Salvador
  Adam Dong   Job Castillo
  Luis Montoya
21–17, 19–21, 13–21   Bronze
2023 G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport,
Kingston, Jamaica
  Adam Dong   Kevin Lee
  Ty Alexander Lindeman
21–10, 16–21, 22–20   Gold
2024 Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium,
Guatemala City, Guatemala
  Adam Dong   Chen Zhi-yi
  Presley Smith
14–21, 11–21   Silver

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Clube Fonte São Paulo,
Campinas, Brazil
  Brittney Tam   Nathan Osborne
  Josephine Wu
21–17, 21–17   Gold
2017 Sports City Coliseum,
Havana, Cuba
  Brittney Tam   Toby Ng
  Rachel Honderich
13–21, 14–21   Silver
2018 Teodoro Palacios Flores Gymnasium,
Guatemala City, Guatemala
  Kristen Tsai   Ty Alexander Lindeman
  Josephine Wu
14–21, 24–26   Silver
2019 Gimnasio Olímpico,
Aguascalientes, Mexico
  Kristen Tsai   Fabrício Farias
  Jaqueline Lima
22–24, 19–21   Bronze
2022 Palacio de los Deportes Carlos "El Famoso" Hernández,
San Salvador, El Salvador
  Crystal Lai   Ty Alexander Lindeman
  Josephine Wu
14–21, 15–21   Bronze

Pan Am Junior Championships edit

Boys' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2010 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic   Luiz Enrique Dias Dos Santos Junior 18–21, 21–18, 21–11   Gold

Boys' doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic   Henry Wiebe   Neil Tai-Pow
  Andrew Wilkinson
21–8, 21–18   Gold
2011 National Indoor Sports Centre,
Kingston, Jamaica
  Clinton Wong   Andrew Lau
  Andrew Wilkinson
16–21, 21–17, 21–8   Gold

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic   Adrianna Giuffre   Michael Diamond
  Surabhi Kadam
19–21, 21–16, 21–16   Gold
2011 National Indoor Sports Centre,
Kingston, Jamaica
  Adrianna Giuffre   Andrew Wilkinson
  Jody Chan
21–18, 17–21, 21–16   Gold

BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles, 6 runners-up) edit

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Yonex / K&D Graphics International   B. R. Sankeerth   Frederik Colberg
  Rasmus Fladberg
8–21, 21–18, 6–21   Runner-up
2017 Internacional Mexicano   Jason Ho-Shue   Job Castillo
  Lino Muñoz
18–21, 21–11, 21–17   Winner
2018 Brazil International   Jason Ho-Shue   Tarun Kona
  Saurabh Sharma
21–7 retired   Winner
2019 Yonex / K&D Graphics International   Jason Ho-Shue   Chen Xin-yuan
  Lin Yu-chieh
21–23, 20–22   Runner-up
2021 Internacional Mexicano   Adam Dong   Fabio Caponio
  Giovanni Toti
21–10, 21–10   Winner
2022 Sydney International   Adam Dong   Lee Fang-chih
  Lee Fang-jen
12–21, 21–16, 16–21   Runner-up
2022 Peru Challenge   Adam Dong   Jason Ho-Shue
  Joshua Hurlburt-Yu
15–21, 21–18, 12–21   Runner-up
2023 Peru Challenge   Adam Dong   Kevin Lee
  Ty Alexander Lindeman
16–21, 18–21   Runner-up
2023 Canadian International   Adam Dong   Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif
  Jonathan Lai
21–13, 17–21, 15–21   Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 Yonex / K&D Graphics International   Kristen Tsai   Oliver Leydon-Davis
  Susannah Leydon-Davis
21–11, 21–8   Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References edit

  1. ^ "Nyl Yakura biography". BWF-Tournament Software. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Nyl Yakura". Badminton Canada. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Canada's badminton team enjoys dominant day at Pan Ams". CBC.ca. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  4. ^ Fenton, Caela (25 October 2023). "Day 5 at Santiago 2023: Mac Neil makes history, badminton gold rush". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Pickering's Nyl Yakura follows mother's advice in pursuit of Olympics". Durham Region News. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Road to the Olympics: Badminton champ Nyl Yakura wins second consecutive Pan Am gold". Nikkei Voice | The Japanese Canadian National Newspaper. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Participants: Nyl Yakura". Gold Coast 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  8. ^ Awad, Brandi (16 June 2021). "Team Canada to have its largest Olympic badminton team ever at Tokyo 2020". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Yakura Nyl". Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.

External links edit