Noriko Nakayama

Noriko Nakayama is a Japanese former badminton player, the first true international badminton star from that nation, who won numerous Japanese national and major international titles from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. She claimed seven of these at the Danish Open, two in singles and five in women's doubles. At the prestigious All-England Championships she shared the women's doubles title with her compatriot and singles rival Hiroe Yuki in 1971, and won the singles title over Yuki in 1972, having previously lost twice in the finals. She also won the women's singles event at the Olympic Games Demonstration in 1972. In four successive Uber Cup competitions, between 1965 and 1975 she was unbeaten in singles, thus leading the way to three world team titles for Japan. With the birth of her eldest daughter, she hung her racket in 1975. As of 2017, she is still actively associated with the sport, coaching at the local level.