Nao Yamakita
Nao Yamakita is a Japanese badminton player who specializes in women's doubles. She is a member of the Japanese national team and plays for the NTT East team. She was the gold medalist at the 2023 Asian Junior Championships and a bronze medalist at the 2023 World Junior Championships. In 2025, Yamakita won her maiden World Tour title at the 2025 Korea Masters Super 300.
Career
2019–2023: Junior career and first senior title
Yamakita won the U17 mixed doubles title at the 2019 Asian Junior Championships with partner Yudai Okimoto. In 2022, she and Maya Taguchi reached the finals of three European junior tournaments, including the Croatia Valamar and Bulgaria Junior Opens. Partnering with Mei Sudo in 2023, Yamakita won the German Junior title before claiming gold at the Asian Junior Championships, where they defeated South Korea's Park Seul and Yeon Seo-yeon in the final. The pair also won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Spokane. In team events, Yamakita helped Japan secure its first mixed team gold medal in 11 years at the Asian Junior Championships and a bronze at the World Junior Championships. She made her senior international debut in June 2023 at the Guatemala Future Series, winning the women's doubles title with Sudo and finishing as runner-up in mixed doubles with Kenta Matsukawa.2024–2025: First World Tour title and world top 40
After joining the NTT East badminton team, Yamakita partnered with Naru Shinoya to win the 2024 Malaysia International. In 2025, she began a partnership with Hinata Suzuki. The duo won the Saipan International and finished as runners-up at the Northern Marianas Open. On the World Tour, they reached the final of the Super 100 Kaohsiung Masters. In November 2025, Yamakita won her first World Tour title at the Super 300 Korea Masters, defeating Kim So-yeong and Lee Seo-jin in straight games. Following this victory, she reached a career-high world ranking of 37 in women's doubles.Achievements
World Junior Championships
Girls' doubles| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | The Podium, Spokane, United States |  Asian Junior ChampionshipsGirls' doubles
|