🏸 2026 results
Every 2026 result we record for Hoki and Kobayashi, tournament by tournament. Tournament names link to our page for that event, where you will find the draw, the other Japanese entries and how to find the broadcast. Our tournament pages start with the Daihatsu Japan Open in July, so the eight events below are the ones we cover; earlier 2026 events such as the Malaysia Open in January are not listed here. Scores are cross-checked against our own tournament pages, the draws on the English Wikipedia and the official BWF day data.
Daihatsu Japan Open
Super 750・Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
Seeded 8. They opened 21-17, 21-14 against Nur Mohd Azriyn AYUB / TAN Wee Kiong (MAS), then beat compatriots Haruki KAWABE / Kenta MATSUKAWA 21-19, 19-21, 21-19 on 16 July — every one of the three games decided by two points. In the quarter-finals on 17 July they beat the fourth seeds LIANG Weikeng / WANG Chang (CHN) 21-12, 21-19. They lost the semi-final 14-21, 21-19, 18-21 to the second seeds Fajar ALFIAN / Muhammad Shohibul FIKRI (INA), who went on to win the title.
China Open
Super 1000・Changzhou, China
Seeded 8. They beat Christo POPOV / Toma Junior POPOV (FRA) 21-12, 25-23, the second game going all the way to 25-23. In the second round on 23 July they lost 15-21, 21-15, 10-21 to KANG Min-hyuk / KI Dong-ju (KOR) — they dropped the opener, levelled it, then were pulled away from in the decider.
BWF World Championships 2026
World Championships・New Delhi, India
Seeded 8 and byed into the second round, they withdrew on 14 August 2026 (announced by the Nippon Badminton Association). That left Japan without a seeded men's doubles pair in the draw. The seedings came from the world rankings of 28 July 2026. We do not publish the reason for a withdrawal.
China Masters
Super 750・Shenzhen, China
Seeded 8. In the first round on 1 September, against HU Ke Yuan / LIN Xiang Yi (CHN), they retired at 9-11 in the opening game, eight minutes in. Neither the BWF nor the Nippon Badminton Association has published a reason, and we do not speculate.
Asian Games 2026
Asian Games・Ichinomiya, Aichi, Japan
They are in the squad of ten men and ten women announced by the Nippon Badminton Association on 19 May 2026, as one of the two Japanese men's doubles pairs entered in the individual event alongside Sho KUMAGAI / Daiki NISHI. The team event runs from 20 to 24 September and the individual event from 25 to 29 September, at Ichinomiya City Gymnasium. The May announcement was a squad list, not the final entry.
Denmark Open 2026
Super 750・Odense, Denmark
They won the men's doubles here in 2025, beating Fajar ALFIAN / Muhammad Shohibul FIKRI (INA) 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 in the final. The semi-final also went the distance, 23-21, 18-21, 21-16 against the sixth seeds Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY / Chirag SHETTY (IND), and they took the title unseeded. Entries for the 2026 edition had not been published as of 3 September 2026.
S/J League 2026-27
Japan domestic league・15 venues across Japan
Japan's top domestic team league starts on 31 October 2026 in Yokote, Akita and runs to the TOP4 Tournament at Yokohama BUNTAI on 21 February 2027, across 15 venues. Takuro Hoki is listed as one of the players to watch for Tonami Transportation on our tournament page. Domestic events in Japan moved to 15-point games ahead of the rest of the world in 2026.
Korea Open 2026
Super 500・Yeosu, South Korea
They reached the men's doubles semi-finals at the 2025 edition in Suwon. The 2026 event is at Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu, the same venue where Kodai Naraoka reached the men's singles semi-finals in 2023. Entries for 2026 have not been published.
Scores are written from Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi's point of view (Hoki and Kobayashi's points first). Only matches completed by 3 September 2026 are listed. Matches in progress are not listed.
🔥 The same pair, twice
The pair that stopped Hoki and Kobayashi in the 2026 Japan Open semi-finals were Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. Nine months earlier, in the 2025 Denmark Open final, Hoki and Kobayashi had beaten the same pair to take the title. Both matches went to three games, and both deciders were settled by three points or fewer. Side by side, they show something a results table cannot.
- 🏆October 2025 — Denmark Open final: they beat Alfian and Fikri 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 and took the title unseeded.
- July 2026 — Japan Open semi-final: they lost to the same pair 14-21, 21-19, 18-21, and Alfian and Fikri went on to win the tournament.
- 📅13 to 18 October 2026 — Denmark Open 2026 (Odense, Denmark, Super 750): Hoki and Kobayashi are the defending champions.
At a Japan squad media session on 6 August 2026, Hoki said of that Japan Open match that "being able to play a good match against the champions gave us confidence", while Kobayashi said "if we keep updating ourselves, the title is there" (Badminton Spirit, 6 August 2026).
Entries for the 2026 Denmark Open had not been published as of 3 September 2026, and we do not guess at names. What is listed above is the record of what actually happened in 2025 and 2026, plus the 2026 dates as confirmed on our own tournament page.
🏆 Career highlights
- 2021 — World Championships — men's doubles champions
In Huelva, Spain, they became <strong>the first Japanese men's doubles pair to win the world title</strong>. They had been runners-up in the same event in Basel in 2019. The specialist Japanese outlet Badminton Spirit still refers to them as former champions in its 2023 tournament reports. - 2022 — World No. 1 in men's doubles
<strong>On 20 September 2022 they became the first Japanese men's doubles pair to reach World No. 1.</strong> Badminton Spirit reported it on that date, and the BWF World Ranking listing records the same peak for the pair — No. 1, 20 September 2022. <strong>Rankings move, so we always publish the date with the number.</strong> - 2021 — BWF World Tour Finals — champions
The season-ending event for the top eight pairs of the year. <strong>They were the first Japanese men's doubles pair to win it.</strong> - 2025 — Denmark Open (Super 750) — champions
In October 2025 they <strong>took the title unseeded</strong>, beating Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (INA) <strong>21-18, 15-21, 21-19</strong> in the final. Our <a href="/denmark-open-2026/" hreflang="ja" style="color:#15803d;font-weight:700;">Denmark Open 2026</a> page records them as the defending champions. - 2024 — Paris Olympics — men's doubles
They represented Japan in the men's doubles at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. - 2026 — Asian Games — named in Japan's squad
One of the ten men named on 19 May 2026, and <strong>one of only two Japanese men's doubles pairs entered in the individual event</strong>, together with Sho Kumagai and Daiki Nishi.
📅 What's next
As of 3 September 2026 the next event is the Asian Games 2026 in Ichinomiya, Aichi, from 20 to 29 September. They are in the squad announced on 19 May 2026 as one of the two Japanese men's doubles pairs entered in the individual event. That announcement was a squad list, not the final entry.
In October comes the Denmark Open 2026 (13 to 18 October, Super 750), where they are the defending champions. Japan's domestic S/J League 2026-27 starts on 31 October in Yokote, Akita, with Takuro Hoki listed for Tonami Transportation on our tournament page. In November the Korea Open returns, where they were semi-finalists in 2025.
⚠️ Entries for the Denmark Open and the Korea Open have not been published. We do not guess at names. Check our tournament pages and the official BWF draw for the confirmed field.
👤 Profile
| Pair | Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi (保木卓朗／小林優吾) |
|---|---|
| Event | Men's doubles |
| World ranking | World No. 9 as of 1 September 2026 They had 69,290 points from 15 counting tournaments. On 20 September 2022 they became the first Japanese men's doubles pair to reach World No. 1. World rankings are updated every week, so this is a dated record, not a current figure. Check the BWF website for the latest list. |
Takuro Hoki
| Name | Takuro Hoki (保木卓朗) |
|---|---|
| Team | Tonami Transportation (Toyama, Japan) |
| Born | 14 August 1995 |
| From | Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan |
| Height | 167cm |
| Plays | Right-handed |
Yugo Kobayashi
| Name | Yugo Kobayashi (小林優吾) |
|---|---|
| Team | Tonami Transportation (Toyama, Japan) |
| Born | 10 July 1995 |
| From | Miyagi Prefecture, Japan |
| Height | 175cm |
| Plays | Left-handed |
Source — Takuro Hoki's Nippon Badminton Association national team page / Yugo Kobayashi's Nippon Badminton Association national team page (in Japanese). This profile only uses what the association publishes officially. We do not write about injuries, health or private life.
🔍 Keep your own scoresheet
Three of the six 2026 matches we record for them went to three games. The most extreme was the Japan Open second round, 21-19, 19-21, 21-19 — every game decided by two points. A results line that only says "semi-finals" hides all of that. The second game of their China Open first round also ran to 25-23. Keeping the points, not just the round reached, is what shows how different two wins can be.
Badsheet records your own matches point by point, builds an official-style scoresheet and charts win rate and shot placement.
🔗 Related pages
The pages below are written in Japanese, except the ones marked EN.
- Denmark Open 2026 — From 13 to 18 October, Odense (Super 750). They won it in 2025.
- Daihatsu Japan Open 2026 — From 14 to 19 July, Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium (Super 750). Semi-finalists.
- China Open 2026 — From 21 to 26 July, Changzhou (Super 1000). Second round.
- BWF World Championships 2026 — From 17 to 23 August, New Delhi. Seeded 8, withdrew.
- China Masters 2026 — From 1 to 6 September, Shenzhen (Super 750).
- Asian Games 2026 badminton — From 20 to 29 September, Ichinomiya, Aichi.
- S/J League 2026-27 — From 31 October, 15 venues. Hoki plays for Tonami Transportation.
- Korea Open 2026 — From 3 to 8 November, Yeosu. Semi-finalists in 2025.
- Kenta Nishimoto — 2026 results EN — Another Japanese man on this site.
- Kodai Naraoka — 2026 results EN — Men's singles, silver at the 2026 World Championships.
- Player pages on this site EN — Every 2026 player page we publish.
- Badminton tournament hub — Every tournament page on this site.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Who do Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi play for?
Both play for Tonami Transportation, a company team based in Toyama Prefecture. The Nippon Badminton Association lists Tonami Transportation as the club for both players. Takuro Hoki was born on 14 August 1995, comes from Yamaguchi Prefecture, went to Tomioka High School, is right-handed and is 167cm tall. Yugo Kobayashi was born on 10 July 1995, comes from Miyagi Prefecture, went to the same high school, is left-handed and is 175cm tall. They were born in the same year and went to the same school, but we do not publish career details beyond what the association makes official.
What is their world ranking?
World No. 9 in men's doubles as of 1 September 2026, with 69,290 points from 15 counting tournaments. The same position appears in the Japanese specialist outlet Badminton Spirit's listing for that date, in the BWF World Ranking listing on the English Wikipedia, and on the official BWF player page. On 20 September 2022 they became the first Japanese men's doubles pair to reach World No. 1. World rankings are updated every week, so this page always records the date alongside the number.
Did they play the 2026 World Championships?
No. They were seeded 8 and byed into the second round, but the Nippon Badminton Association announced their withdrawal on 14 August 2026. That left Japan without a seeded men's doubles pair in the event. The seedings came from the world rankings of 28 July 2026. We do not publish the reason for a withdrawal.
What are their 2026 results so far?
In the events we cover with a tournament page: semi-finals at the Daihatsu Japan Open (Super 750, Tokyo) in July and second round at the China Open (Super 1000, Changzhou) in July. They withdrew from the BWF World Championships in August, and at the China Masters in September they retired during the first game of their first-round match. Three of the six matches we record went to three games, and the Japan Open second round was decided by two points in all three.
How far did they go at the 2026 Japan Open?
To the semi-finals. Seeded 8, they beat Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong (MAS) 21-17, 21-14, then compatriots Haruki Kawabe and Kenta Matsukawa 21-19, 19-21, 21-19, then the fourth seeds Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang (CHN) 21-12, 21-19. In the semi-finals they lost 14-21, 21-19, 18-21 to the second seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, who went on to win the title.
When did they win the Denmark Open?
In October 2025. They beat Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (INA) 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 in the final, after a three-game semi-final against the sixth seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (IND), 23-21, 18-21, 21-16. They were unseeded that week. The next edition runs from 13 to 18 October 2026 in Odense, Denmark, and entries had not been published as of 3 September 2026.
Why is this one page for two players?
Because a doubles match is a single record for the pair. What our tournament pages hold are results for the pair, so the player-axis version of those records is also a single page. The profile section lists both players separately, and the structured data on this page describes them as two people. We never create a person out of a pair name.
Where can I watch their matches?
It depends on the tournament. Each of our tournament pages has a section on how to find the broadcast or stream in Japan. Where no broadcast has been announced, we say so rather than guessing.
📮 Corrections and removal. This is an unofficial summary built from published information. If anything here is factually wrong, or if the player or their team would like this page taken down, please contact us and we will correct or remove it promptly. We do not publish anything about injuries, health or private life.
Last updated . Sources — the Nippon Badminton Association national team page, match results recorded on our own tournament pages (each confirmed against two sources), and the BWF World Ranking as of 1 September 2026. Japanese version: https://takeorilab.ybcjr.com/senshu/hoki-kobayashi/