# Takuma Obayashi

Takuma Obayashi (大林拓真, Ōbayashi Takuma, born 7 August 1999) is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami. He won his first BWF World Tour title at the 2023 Indonesia Masters Super 100 II.

## Career

Obayashi made his international senior debut at the Vietnam International Challenge in 2018, and participated in his first BWF World Tour tournament, the Canada Open, later that year. He reached the finals of a senior international tournament for the first time at the Osaka International in 2019, finishing runner-up to countryman and former Saitama Sakae High School teammate Koki Watanabe. Obayashi would go on to win his first international title the following year at the Jamaica International.
Obayashi won his first BWF World Tour title at the Indonesia Masters Super 100 II in 2023. That year, he also reached the finals at the Vietnam Open and won two more International Challenge-level tournaments, including the inaugural Saipan International after winning the final against top-seeded Jeon Hyeok-jin. Obayashi later achieved notoriety for his upset victory over Anders Antonsen when making his Super 500-level debut at the 2023 Japan Masters, where he ultimately reached the semifinals before losing to world no. 1 Viktor Axelsen.

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

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, 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, and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Level | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2022 | Canada Open | Super 100 | Alex Lanier | 12–21, 21–12, 13–21 | Runner-up |
| 2023 | Vietnam Open | Super 100 | Huang Yu-kai | 13–21, 13–17 | Runner-up |
| 2023 | Indonesia Masters Super 100 II | Super 100 | Choi Ji-hoon | 21–8, 21–19 | Winner |

### BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

Men's singles
| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 2019 | Osaka International | Koki Watanabe | 21–19, 17–21, 7–21 | Runner-up |
| 2020 | Jamaica International | Yushi Tanaka | 21–11, 17–21, 21–12 | Winner |
| 2020 | Peru Future Series | Yushi Tanaka | 13–21, 21–8, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2022 | Canadian International | Brian Yang | 21–11, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2023 | Vietnam International | Lê Đức Phát | 21–14, 21–15 | Winner |
| 2023 | Saipan International | Jeon Hyeok-jin | 21–19, 21–16 | Winner |
    BWF International Challenge tournament
    BWF International Series tournament
    BWF Future Series tournament

## Performance timeline
### Key

| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | A | G | S | B | NH | N/A | DNQ |

### National team

* Junior level
| Team events | 2016 | 2017 |
| Asian Junior Championships | B | B |
| World Junior Championships | A | B |
* Senior level
| Team events | 2024 |
| Asia Team Championships | B |

### Individual competitions

* Junior level
| Events | 2016 | 2017 |
| Asian Junior Championships | 3R | A |
| World Junior Championships | A | QF |
* Senior level
| Tournament | BWF World Tour | BWF World Tour | BWF World Tour | BWF World Tour | BWF World Tour | BWF World Tour | Best | Ref |
| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Best | Ref |
| India Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 2R ('24) | |
| Indonesia Masters | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R ('25) | |
| Thailand Masters | A | A | A | A | QF | A | QF ('24) | |
| German Open | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R ('25) | |
| Orléans Masters | A | A | A | A | QF | 2R | QF ('24) | |
| Swiss Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R ('24) | |
| Spain Masters | A | A | NH | A | 1R | NH | 1R ('24) | |
| Thailand Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | | 1R ('24) | |
| Malaysia Masters | A | A | A | A | 1R | | 1R ('24) | |
| Kaohsiung Masters | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3R | A | | 3R ('23) | |
| U.S. Open | A | A | NH | QF | 2R | | QF ('23) | |
| Canada Open | 3R | A | F | A | 2R | | F ('22) | |
| Japan Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | | 1R ('24) | |
| Korea Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | | 2R ('24) | |
| Indonesia Masters Super 100 | A | 3R | A | 3R | A | | W ('23) | |
| Indonesia Masters Super 100 | A | 3R | A | W | A | | W ('23) | |
| Vietnam Open | A | 2R | A | F | A | | F ('23) | |
| Hong Kong Open | A | A | NH | A | 2R | | 2R ('24) | |
| China Open | A | A | NH | A | 1R | | 1R ('24) | |
| Arctic Open | A | A | NH | A | 1R | | 1R ('24) | |
| Denmark Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | | 2R ('24) | |
| Korea Masters | A | A | A | 2R | QF | | QF ('24) | |
| Japan Masters | N/A | N/A | N/A | SF | 1R | | SF ('23) | |
| China Masters | A | A | A | A | 2R | | 2R ('24) | |
| Akita Masters | 1R | QF | NH | N/A | N/A | N/A | QF ('19) | |
| Year-end ranking | 186 | 141 | 117 | 34 | 36 | | 30 | 30 |
| Tournament | 2018 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Best | Best |

## Record against selected opponents

Record against Year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 23 January 2025.
| Player | Matches | Win | Lost | Diff. |
| Chou Tien-chen | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Anders Antonsen | 3 | 1 | 2 | –1 |
| Viktor Axelsen | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Lakshya Sen | 2 | 0 | 2 | –2 |
| Tommy Sugiarto | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 |
| Kodai Naraoka | 3 | 0 | 3 | –3 |
| Loh Kean Yew | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 |
| Kunlavut Vitidsarn | 3 | 1 | 2 | –1 |
| Kantaphon Wangcharoen | 2 | 2 | 0 | +2 |