Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) Dominant hand Right Affiliation JPBA Name Mika Sakai | License no. 268, Class 25 Role Bowler Rookie year 1992 | |
 | ||
Native name Kanji: 酒井美佳Spaced hiragana: さかい みか Born March 7, 1975 (age 49) ( 1975-03-07 ) Similar People Aki Nawa, Urara Himeji, Hiromi Matsunaga, Sanae Mori, Nao Oishi | ||
Mika Sakai (酒井美佳, Sakai Mika; born March 7, 1975) is a Japanese female professional ten-pin bowler. She is a member of the Japan Professional Bowling Association, license no. 268.
Contents
Sakai comes from a bowling family. Her father is Takeo Sakai, also a professional bowler in Japan. He is the last JPBA member to win the Round1 Japan Cup, doing so in 1988. Her younger sister is Reika Sakai, who as sisters competed in P-League.
Biography
Sakai first started bowling while in elementary school. During the second grade of junior high-school, her father won the first All-Japan Championship. It was this event that inspired her to become a professional bowler. She frequented the bowling establishments every day, practicing after school while being coached by her father. She became a professional in 1992 at the age of 17, just missing out on breaking the record for being the youngest to become a professional in the JPBA (16). The Sakais also became the first parent/child duo to be active professional bowlers at the same time.
In 2002, father and daughter formed a doubles team, and won the All-Japan Mixed Doubles tournament. In the same year, Sakai won the Tokai Women's Open. In 2006, Sakai became a part of the first Bowling Revolution P★League tournament.
Major accomplishments
P★League
Sakai-pro currently holds the P-League record for high three-game series of 789 (275-257-257). She also ties with other bowlers for the most strikes in a single game (11).