Kodai Naraoka (奈良岡 功大, Naraoka Kōdai; born 30 June 2001) is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with NTT East. Born in Aomori, he started playing badminton at the age of 5 with the influence of his father. He won the silver medal at the 2023 and 2026 BWF World Championships.
In his junior career, Naraoka has won a silver at the World Junior Championships in 2018, where he previously claimed a bronze in 2017. He represented his country competed at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, won the bronze medals in the boys' singles and mixed team event.
He competed for Japan at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the men's singles event.
Awards and nominations
| Award | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BWF Awards | 2022 | Eddy Choong Most Promising Player of the Year | Won |
Achievements
World Championships
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark | Kunlavut Vitidsarn | 21–19, 18–21, 7–21 | Silver | |
| 2026 | Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi, India | Alex Lanier | 11–21, 11–21 | Silver |
Asian Games
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China | Shi Yuqi | 5–21, 15–21 | Bronze |
Asian Championships
Men's singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ningbo Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Ningbo, China | Li Shifeng | 21–14, 15–21, 12–21 | Bronze |
Youth Olympic Games
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Tecnópolis, Buenos Aires, Argentina | Arnaud Merklé | 21–17, 24–26, 22–20 | Bronze |
World Junior Championships
Boys' singles
| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Among Rogo Sports Hall, Yogyakarta, Indonesia | Leong Jun Hao | 14–21, 20–22 | Bronze | |
| 2018 | Markham Pan Am Centre, Markham, Canada | Kunlavut Vitidsarn | 9–21, 11–21 | Silver |
BWF World Tour (3 titles, 6 runners-up)
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, 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.
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Korea Masters | Super 300 | Jeon Hyeok-jin | 17–21, 16–21 | Runner-up | |
| 2022 | Singapore Open | Super 500 | Anthony Sinisuka Ginting | 21–23, 17–21 | Runner-up | |
| 2022 | Taipei Open | Super 300 | Chou Tien-chen | 21–14, 10–21, 6–21 | Runner-up | |
| 2022 | Vietnam Open | Super 100 | Sun Feixiang | 10–21, 21–14, 21–17 | Winner | |
| 2023 | Malaysia Open | Super 1000 | Viktor Axelsen | 6–21, 15–21 | Runner-up | |
| 2023 | China Masters | Super 750 | Kenta Nishimoto | 21–13, 21–13 | Winner | |
| 2024 | Australian Open | Super 500 | Lee Zii Jia | 19–21, 21–11, 18–21 | Runner-up | |
| 2024 | China Open | Super 1000 | Weng Hongyang | 17–21, 12–21 | Runner-up | |
| 2025 | Japan Masters | Super 500 | Kenta Nishimoto | 21–11, 10–21, 21–15 | Winner |
BWF International Challenge/Series (5 titles, 2 runners-up)
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Osaka International | Yu Igarashi | 21–14, 11–21, 12–21 | Runner-up |
| 2018 | Yonex / K&D Graphics International | Koki Watanabe | 14–21, 21–14, 15–21 | Runner-up |
| 2019 | Lao International | Minoru Koga | 22–20, 22–20 | Winner |
| 2019 | Jamaica International | Kevin Cordón | 21–17, 21–8 | Winner |
| 2019 | Mongolia International | Kunlavut Vitidsarn | 9–21, 21–17, 23–21 | Winner |
| 2019 | Dubai International | Yusuke Onodera | 21–14, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2019 | Yonex / K&D Graphics International | Jason Ho-Shue | 21–13, 21–14 | Winner |
- BWF International Challenge tournament
- BWF International Series tournament
BWF Junior International (1 runner-up)
Boys' singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Australian Junior International | Kenya Mitsuhashi | 20–22, 21–14, 16–21 | Runner-up |
- BWF Junior Future Series tournament
Record against selected opponents
Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 23 August 2026.
| Player | Matches | Win | Lost | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Lai | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Shi Yuqi | 16 | 5 | 11 | –6 |
| Zhao Junpeng | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Chou Tien-chen | 9 | 3 | 6 | –3 |
| Anders Antonsen | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Viktor Axelsen | 7 | 1 | 6 | –5 |
| Alex Lanier | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Christo Popov | 7 | 3 | 4 | –1 |
| Kevin Cordón | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Srikanth Kidambi | 4 | 4 | 0 | +4 |
| Player | Matches | Win | Lost | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prannoy H. S. | 7 | 6 | 1 | +5 |
| Lakshya Sen | 8 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
| Anthony Sinisuka Ginting | 4 | 1 | 3 | –2 |
| Sony Dwi Kuncoro | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Lee Zii Jia | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Liew Daren | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Loh Kean Yew | 8 | 0 | 8 | –8 |
| Kunlavut Vitidsarn | 14 | 5 | 9 | –4 |
| Kantaphon Wangcharoen | 3 | 3 | 0 | +3 |
