Sakai Hideyuki

Sakai Hideyuki is a Japanese 7 dan professional. For many years he was one of Japan's strongest amateurs, and was one of the first to be awarded an amateur 8-dan diploma. In 2000 he won the World Amateur Go Championship, and the following year was accepted as a professional by the Kansai Ki-in, with an initial professional rank of 5 dan, at the age of 28, somewhat older than the age at which most pros first get ranked. In 2007-2009 he had a berth in the Meijin league, with 3rd, 5th and 4th place finishes.

November 20th, 2003 : Sakai Hideyuki 6 dan won the 47th Kansai-Kiin First Place Tournament beating Yukawa Mitsuhisa 9 dan by 2-1.

Some games of Sakai are on a French Site: http://jerome.hubert1.perso.sfr.fr/Go/Sakai/hideyuki_sakai.htm