# Shōji Satō

Shōji Satō (佐藤 翔冶, Satō Shōji, born 19 September 1982) is a retired Japanese badminton player from NTT East team. He now works as a NTT East singles coach.

## Career

Sato started to playing badminton when he was a kid, influenced by his parents who used to playing badminton as a hobby. He then joined Kodaira club when he was in the third grade of elementary school. He won four Japanese National Championships in a row between 2003 and 2006.
Sato made his first appearance at the Olympic Games in 2004 Athens, competed in the men's singles, losing in the round of 32 to Bao Chunlai of China. He also played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won the men's singles round of 32 and lost in the round of 16.
Sato also represented Japan as the third singles in the 2010 Thomas Cup held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He played as the third singles and against Malaysia in the group stage, he shocked the hosts after defeating Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, after the team staged a huge comeback from 0–2 down to win 3–2 over the hosts.
At the 2012 London Olympics, he competed with Naoki Kawamae in the men's doubles.

## Achievements
### BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2005 | Dutch Open | Muhammad Hafiz Hashim | 21–18, 21–17 | Runner-up |
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2011 | Australian Open | Naoki Kawamae | Hiroyuki Endo Kenichi Hayakawa | 17–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2011 | Russian Open | Naoki Kawamae | Hiroyuki Endo Kenichi Hayakawa | 21–18, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2011 | India Grand Prix Gold | Naoki Kawamae | Andrei Adistia Christopher Rusdianto | 21–17, 12–21, 23–21 | Winner |
| 2012 | Swiss Open | Naoki Kawamae | Fang Chieh-min Lee Sheng-mu | 21–13, 21–14 | Winner |
    BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
    BWF Grand Prix tournament

### BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2001 | Ten Days of Dawn | Afshin Bozorgzadeh | 17–14, 15–2 | Winner |
| 2001 | Cuba International | Sho Sasaki | 15–10, 15–5 | Winner |
| 2001 | Nigeria International | Sho Sasaki | 7–15, 10–15 | Runner-up |
| 2003 | Luxembourge Memorial Thierry Theis | Arif Rasidi | 15–13, 15–13 | Winner |
| 2003 | Iran Fajr International | Yousuke Nakanishi | 15–4, 17–14 | Winner |
| 2003 | South Africa International | Hidetaka Yamada | 11–15, 15–12, 15–7 | Winner |
| 2003 | Wellington International | Sho Sasaki | 15–4, 17–14 | Winner |
| 2003 | New Zealand International | Hidetaka Yamada | 3–15, 15–4, 15–1 | Winner |
| 2003 | Australian International | Yuichi Ikeda | 15–13, 15–9 | Winner |
| 2003 | Bulgarian International | Conrad Hückstädt | Walkover | Winner |
| 2003 | Brazil International | Tōru Matsumoto | 15–13, 15–4 | Winner |
| 2003 | Slovenian International | Przemyslaw Wacha | 15–7, 7–15, 15–6 | Winner |
| 2004 | Swedish International | Bjorn Joppien | 15–9, 15–4 | Winner |
| 2004 | Iran Fajr International | Chien Yu-hsiu | 15–11, 15–11 | Winner |
| 2004 | Peru International | Sho Sasaki | Walkover | Runner-up |
| 2007 | Osaka International | Sho Sasaki | 21–19, 14–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2008 | Canadian International | Andrew Smith | 21–18, 21–16 | Winner |
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2001 | Ten Days of Dawn | Sho Sasaki | Afshin Bozorgzadeh Ali Shahhoseini | 15–9, 15–12 | Winner |
| 2001 | Cuba International | Sho Sasaki | Reizel Acosta Lázaro Jerez | | Winner |
| 2002 | Nigeria International | Yuichi Ikeda | Dotun Akinsanya Ocholi Edicha | 15–3, 15–1 | Winner |
| 2003 | Iran Fajr International | Yuichi Ikeda | Shuichi Nakao Shuichi Sakamoto | 4–15, 15–13, 15–5 | Winner |
| 2003 | Wellington International | Yuichi Ikeda | John Gordon Daniel Shirley | 5–15, 17–16, 10–15 | Runner-up |
| 2003 | New Zealand International | Yuichi Ikeda | Ashley Brehaut Travis Denney | Walkover | Runner-up |
| 2009 | Estonian International | Naoki Kawamae | Andrey Ashmarin Anton Ivanov | 21–13, 21–9 | Winner |
| 2009 | Swedish International | Naoki Kawamae | Chris Langridge David Lindley | 15–21, 21–14, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2009 | Austrian International | Naoki Kawamae | Yoshiteru Hirobe Hajime Komiyama | 21–19, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2009 | Croatian International | Naoki Kawamae | Mads Conrad-Petersen Mads Pieler Kolding | 15–21, 19–21 | Runner-up |
| 2009 | Canadian International | Naoki Kawamae | Alvin Lau Li Chi-Lin | 21–15, 21–12 | Winner |
    BWF International Challenge tournament
    BWF International Series tournament