Riko Gunji

Riko Gunji (郡司莉子, Gunji Riko; born 31 July 2002) is a Japanese badminton player.^[1] She is the gold medalist at the 2019 BWF World Junior Championships in the girls' singles.

Riko Gunji
Gunji at the 2023 Kaohsiung Masters
Personal information
Country	Japan
Born	(2002-07-31) 31 July 2002 (age 23) Ebina, Kanagawa, Japan
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Handedness	Right
Coach	Takako Ida Shōji Satō
Women's singles
Career record	168 wins, 42 losses (80.00%)
Highest ranking	19 (5 August 2025)
Current ranking	19 (5 August 2025)
Medal record Women's badminton Representing  Japan Uber Cup 2022 Bangkok Women's team Asia Team Championships 2020 Manila Women's team 2022 Selangor Women's team World Junior Championships 2019 Kazan Girls' singles 2018 Markham Mixed team 2019 Kazan Mixed team Asian Junior Championships 2018 Jakarta Mixed team
BWF profile

Career

Gunji was the finalist in the Under-15 at the 2016 Singapore Youth International Series. In the same tournament, she won the girls' doubles title with partner Akari Nakashizu.^[2] She was the girls' singles Under-17 champion of 2017 Singapore Youth International Series beating Peeraya Khantaruangsakul of Thailand.^[3] She won the bronze medal in 2018 BWF World Junior Championships mixed team event. In the girls' singles, she lost in the second round to China's Wang Zhiyi.

In 2019, she reached the final of Dutch Junior International where she earned second best position after losing to China's Han Qianxi. She lost another final at the India Junior International event to Thai player Benyapa Aimsaard. In 2019 World Junior Championships, she entered the tournament seeded 7th. She went on to stun several higher seeded players in the tournament. She defeated Thailand's Phittayaporn Chaiwan in semifinal, who was a top seeded player in 2 straight games. In the final she won the World Junior title, beating out China's Zhou Meng.^[4]

2025

Gunji began the 2025 season with a semifinal appearance at the Super 300 German Open, followed by quarterfinal finishes at the Orléans Masters and the Taipei Open.^[5][6] In July, she reached her first Super 750 semifinal at the Japan Open, defeating fourth seed Han Yue in the quarterfinals before losing to world No. 1 An Se-young.^[7][8] She then competed in her first Super 1000 tournament at the China Open, where she was eliminated in the second round by eventual champion Wang Zhi Yi.

Achievements

World Junior Championships

Girls' singles

Year	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2019	Kazan Gymnastics Center, Kazan, Russia	Zhou Meng	21–13, 12–21, 21–14	Gold	[9][10]

BWF World Tour (1 title, 2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,^[11] 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 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.^[12]

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Level	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2022	Indonesia Masters	Super 100	Gao Fangjie	10–21, 12–21	Runner-up	[13]
2023	Kaohsiung Masters	Super 100	Liang Ting-yu	20–22, 21–15, 14–21	Runner-up	[14]
2024 (I)	Indonesia Masters	Super 100	Hina Akechi	21–10, 22–20	Winner	[15]

BWF International Challenge/Series (8 titles, 3 runners-up)

Women's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2021	Belgian International	Hsu Wen-chi	12–21, 21–16, 23–21	Winner	[16][17]
2022	Mexican International	Natsuki Nidaira	21–14, 19–21, 21–14	Winner	[18]
2022	Réunion Open	Natsuki Oie	21–5, 21–14	Winner	[19]
2022 (II)	Indonesia International	Gao Fangjie	9–21, 11–21	Runner-up	[20]
2022	Norwegian International	Natsuki Nidaira	21–14, 18–21, 16–21	Runner-up	[21]
2022	Irish Open	Natsuki Nidaira	21–13, 21–11	Winner	[22]
2024	Thailand International	Mutiara Ayu Puspitasari	21–14, 21–15	Winner	[23]
2024	Luxembourg Open	Hina Akechi	16–21, 14–21	Runner-up	[24]
2024	Denmark Challenge	Hina Akechi	20–22, 21–16, 21–11	Winner	[25]
2024	Saipan International	Asuka Takahashi	21–14, 14–21, 21–16	Winner	[26][27][28]
2024	Malaysia International	Ruzana	19–21, 21–15, 21–11	Winner	[29]

  BWF International Challenge tournament

  BWF International Series tournament

BWF Junior International (2 runners-up)

Girls' singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2019	Dutch Junior International	Han Qianxi	13–21, 21–23	Runner-up	[30][31]
2019	India Junior International	Benyapa Aimsaard	19–21, 21–18, 21–23	Runner-up	[32]

  BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

Performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

G

S

B

NH

N/A

DNQ

(W) won; (F) finalist; (SF) semi-finalist; (QF) quarter-finalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze medal; (NH) not held; (N/A) not applicable; (DNQ) did not qualify.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

National team

• Junior level

Team events	2018	2019	Ref
Asian Junior Championships	S	QF	[33]
World Junior Championships	B	B	[34]

• Senior level

Team events	2020	2021	2022	Ref
Asia Team Championships	G	NH	B	[35][36]
Uber Cup	NH	A	B	[37][38]

Individual competitions

• Junior level

Events	2018	2019	Ref
Asian Junior Championships	1R	A	[39]
World Junior Championships	4R	G	[40][9][41][10]

• Senior level

Tournament	BWF World Tour				Best	Ref
	2022	2023	2024	2025
Thailand Masters	NH	2R	A		2R ('23)	[42]
German Open	A	1R	A	SF	SF ('25)	[5]
Orléans Masters	A			QF	QF ('25)	[6]
Ruichang China Masters	NH	A	1R	A	1R ('24)
Swiss Open	A	1R	A		1R ('23)
Spain Masters	NH	1R	A	NH	1R ('23)
Taipei Open	A			QF	QF ('25)
Thailand Open	A			2R	2R ('25)
Canada Open	QF	A			QF ('22)
Japan Open	A			SF	SF ('25)	[7][8]
China Open	NH	A		2R	2R ('25)
Macau Open	NH		QF	SF	SF ('25)	[43]
Vietnam Open	A	1R	A		1R ('23)
Hong Kong Open	NH	A		Q	('25)
China Masters	NH	A		Q	('25)
Indonesia Masters Super 100	F	QF	W	A	W ('24)	[13][15]
		w/d	A
Kaohsiung Masters	N/A	F	A		F ('23)	[14]
Japan Masters	NH		2R		2R ('24)	[44][45]
Year-end ranking	42	103	39		19
Tournament	2022	2023	2024	2025	Best	Ref

Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 24 July 2025.^[46]

Player Matches Win Lost Diff. Han Yue 1 1 0 +1 Wang Zhiyi 2 0 2 –2 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 1 1 0 +1 Aya Ohori 1 0 1 –1 An Se-young 2 0 2 –2 Ratchanok Intanon 1 1 0 +1