Chiharu Shida, among Japan’s most appealing badminton skills, has actually constructed a track record for her sharp reflexes, elegant footwork, and unwavering concentrate on the court.
However in current weeks, the 27-year-old caught international attention for factors that extend beyond her athletic expertise– openly attending to the intrusive fan culture that shadows lots of ladies professional athletes.
In an Instagram post, Shida contacted fans in China to stop following her and attacking her individual area, explaining the duplicated stalking as traumatic and frightening.
The professional athlete, who won a bronze medal in ladies’s doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics with her veteran partner Nami Matsuyama, made the appeal in a Chinese-language Instagram post while completing at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo.
” Thank you to everybody for your ongoing assistance, however I wish to demand something from all my fans,” she composed. “We have actually been stalked whenever we complete in China, it has actually currently been going on for a year and a half. Just recently, we have actually been feeling extremely uneasy and extremely afraid.”
While Shida did not clarify who she indicated by “we”, she and Matsuyama, presently ranked world number 3, have a popular fanbase throughout East Asia, especially in China, where Shida is frequently described in media as a “badminton goddess”.
She acknowledged that the majority of fans were considerate however cautioned that if the harassment continued, she would be required to “consider a method to manage it”.
Shida likewise advised fans to concentrate on her matches, not her personal life. “Please right away stop the stalking and comparable behaviour,” she composed. “Lastly, please concentrate on us in the arena, not on our personal lives. Thanks once again.”
The shuttler’s celeb in China rose after the Paris Olympics, where her court existence caught regional limelights. Her Instagram following has actually because skyrocketed past one million.
In August in 2015, she shared easy going pictures with Chinese competing Tan Ning on social networks, revealing the 2 simulating animated characters Judy and Nick from Zootopia, in addition to My Tune and Kuromi from the Japanese Sanrio universe.
” Although we chewed out each other on court, we are close to each other outside the court,” composed Shida. “She is an extremely fascinating and adorable kid.”
Tan, who together with her partner Liu Shengshu beat Shida and Matsuyama in the Olympic semifinals, reposted the images with the caption, “you [are] adorable more than me”.
Regardless of their loss, the Japanese duo recuperated to win bronze, beating Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Muralitharan Thinaah in straight sets.
On the podium, Shida was seen smiling and winking at Tan– a minute that even more charmed Chinese fans, a number of whom required to social networks to jokingly advocate Tan not to take their “goddess”, reported South China Early Morning Post.
A local of Japan born in 1997, Shida initially got attention after winning a bronze at the 2014 Asian Junior Badminton Champion. Her very first senior worldwide title came at the 2016 Vietnam International, followed by a triumph at the 2018 Taiwan Open.
With Matsuyama, her relied on partner, Shida reached a career-high world ranking of second in 2022.
The duo experienced a 15-month title dry spell after their last win at the China Masters in November 2023. Nevertheless, that drought ended with a remarkable success at the prominent All England Open in March 2025. The set beat compatriots Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in a tense 83-minute last to recover the title they last won in 2022.
” Every year, we discuss wishing to win this competition,” stated Shida, according to Kyodo News. “We were dissatisfied to complete as runners-up in 2015, however I’m truly delighted we won this time.”.
The set’s course back to the top wasn’t simple. Matsuyama had actually taken a short break at the start of the season, throughout which Shida had fun with veteran Misaki Matsutomo in a short-term pairing. The reunion settled with an effective return on the circuit.
” We were tired physically and mentally and we were not in condition,” Shida stated, reviewing the duration after the Olympics. “For many years end we truly dealt with strength and condition throughout training, and I think that has actually worked for us.”.
Far from the court, Shida has actually likewise revealed interest in checking out the world of media. When sidelined by injury throughout the Malaysia Open in January 2023, she attempted her hand at post-match interviews, unexpected colleague Akane Yamaguchi by looking like a novice television press reporter. “I was more worried behind the electronic camera than in front of it,” she confessed, after delighting in a stint using the main Badminton World Federation coat.