Japan's Badminton Idol: Skills & Style on the Rise | Mixed Doubles Success

▲ Japan is excited about the birth of an all-time heroine with both talent and beauty. Although he is said to have an indecisive personality, he is showing off his star potential with his unexpected charm of slamming down the shuttlecock more decisively than anyone else on the court. ⓒ Maya Taguchi fan SNS

[스포티비뉴스=조용운 기자] In the Japanese badminton world, a promising player with both idol-like visuals and genius has emerged and is shaking up the archipelago.

Maya Taguchi (20), who reminds us of Twice and New Jeans Hani, advanced to the round of 16 along with Yuta Watanabe (29), who won bronze medals in mixed doubles for two consecutive times at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.

They defeated the Frisley Smith-Jenny Guy (USA) pair 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) in the mixed doubles round of 32 of the 2026 Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 500 Indonesia Masters held on the 21st. The group of Taguchi and Watanabe, who defeated another American group in 27 minutes in the preliminaries and played their first match in the finals, also took only 31 minutes to advance to the round of 16.

Taguchi is attracting a lot of attention these days not only in Japan but also in Korea due to his amazing appearance. The coming-of-age kimono photo that Taguchi recently released on social media shocked people with her translucent skin and neat beauty. Japanese fans are enthusiastic, saying, “An idol debut is urgent,” and even among Korean fans, they boast such overwhelming visuals that people say, “She looks like New Jeans Hani” or “I thought she was a Korean idol.”

Just like his appearance, his skills are also growing rapidly. Taguchi, who won the gold medal in the women’s doubles at the 2023 World Junior Championships, has a strong physique of 166 cm and a dynamic play that utilizes her long limbs.

▲ Japan is excited about the birth of an all-time heroine with both talent and beauty. Although he is said to have an indecisive personality, he is showing off his star potential with his unexpected charm of slamming down the shuttlecock more decisively than anyone else on the court. ⓒ Maya Taguchi fan SNS

Veteran Watanabe, who chose Taguchi as his partner, praised Taguchi’s high-quality skills through a Tokyo FM podcast before this tournament, saying, “Taguchi is such a solid player that I don’t have any advice to give him.” Watanabe and Taguchi firmly declared, “The goal is to win the gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics,” and even presented a specific roadmap to raise the world ranking to single digits by 2026.

Taguchi has confirmed his participation in the Japanese national team and is gaining practical experience focusing on super 100-300 level competitions. As they advance to the round of 16 of this tournament, they are slowly rising to the surface. The Indonesia Masters is a Super 500 tournament, so world-class players do not participate.