Meet David Sakai

Although Dave began playing at a Waterbury, CT Y with a sandpaper racket, he quickly learned the game, progressed rapidly, and at the 1964 U.S. Open, showing excellent ball control, won the U-15’s over Glenn Cowan in the semi’s and Mark Radom in the final. He also beat Dell Sweeris in the semi’s of the Under 17’s, before losing in the final to Ralph “Pete” Childs. Then at the ’65 U.S. Open he was again runner-up in the 17’s to Childs, thus solidifying his position as the #2 U.S. Junior.

We don’t see Dave at tournaments for a while, but I know he’s playing at Bobby Gusikoff’s ‘cause I keep losing money to him there. Dave enjoyed this 73rd St. NYC Club and thought highly of its proprietor. “Bobby was like Frank Sinatra to me,” he said.

This, however, didn’t stop him from going out to California with Bernie Bukiet that summer of ’67—indeed within a week of his arrival he and Bernie, along with Seattle’s Bobby Fields, all partners in crime, were playing in an L.A. County Closed, which the USTTA later demanded the organizers pay an Open sanction fee for.

At the Sept., 1967 CNE in Toronto, 20-year-old Dave lost deuce in the 5th to Defending Champion Danny Pecora. Then in Nov., another hurtful loss. Sakai’s USOTC Team—with Vic Landau, Errol Resek, and me—undefeated until their last tie, came 2nd to Jack Howard’s California Team.

In 1968 Dave was runner-up in the Long Island Open—beat Reisman and Gusikoff, lost in the final to Sweeris. After that he goes on an extended vacation from the Game—marries, has two daughters.

In 1973 Dave returns to the Sport, and rolls right along, often at 30-year arch-rival Lim Ming Chui’s expense, to 6 straight New England Championships.

The 1976 Philadelphia U.S. Open was unique in that a number of players boycotted and picketed the tournament, including Dave, then Vice-President of a newly formed Players Association. Their point was to emphasize that, if the Sport was ever to grow, there had to be a start at professional players playing for substantial sums of money. The organizers of this Philadelphia Open, they believed, did not have such an aim in mind. However, all felt that the Caesars Palace Closed six months later—thanks to Neil Smyth and Bill Hodge—was right-minded in that many more thousands of dollars in prize money was offered the players.

In addition to their role in the Players Association, Dave and Dan Seemiller were trying to promote a World Championships to be played in 1979 in Hartford, CT’s new Civic Center. To that end they gave exhibitions at national corporations based in Hartford, such as the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co. In Aug., 1976, the USTTA E.C. appointed Dave as their Sponsorship Agent, and, later, ITTF President Roy Evans flew in for discussions, but, nope, no World’s.

In 1979 Dave was on the U.S. Pan-Am Team to Puerto Rico and also became the USTTA Coaching Committee Chair. In Aug., 1980 he was the playing Captain/Coach of the U.S. Team to the Seoul Open. A misprint in the Seoul Program said “Rock” Seemiller not Rick Seemiller, and thereafter he was Dave’s Rock—winning, well, what matches he could. Here’s one of Dave’s Captain’s recommendations a quarter of a century ago:

“Above all, players and coaches must be given far more international training abroad. It’s fine to spend money bringing over foreign world class players—even those who want little more than a vacation—but if we ever expect to have world class players of our own we have to send our at present untrained best to where their games can be improved.”

In 1980, at an International Tournament in Barbados, Dave was disqualified….Uh-huh, from the Limbo competition—he’d bent his knees and neck going under the bar, a serious no-no. In this tournament he lost to the winner Liang Geliang and to the Barbados Champ Robert Earle, but came away with some prizes, including a bottle of rum.

In 1981 Dave decided he’d better have more variety in his, well, not quite rummy life. In a later interview with Larry Hodges, Dave says he began working for Moore Business Forms and became such an award-winning salesman that he decided to start up his own Senoda Co. and sell printing. In short, he became a successful businessman.

Dave continued to be on the table tennis scene though. In 1982 he Captained a USA Men’s Team at the U.S. Open; and in 1984 he won the first U.S. Closed Over 30 from Bobby Fields.

At the ‘87 Miami Beach Open, Dave paired with George Brathwaite to win the first of his 6 U.S. Open Over 40 Doubles Championships. Then later in Dec., again with The Chief, he won the first of his 12 U.S. Closed Over 40 Doubles titles. That’s nineteen National U.S. Open or Closed Championships Dave has won in just the one Over 40 Doubles event—must be a record, eh? Of course in addition to George he did have other good partners—Danny Seemiller and Chen Yingua.

At the 1990 U.S. Open, Dave and Donna had fun playing against Liang Geliang/Shao Peizhen in the final of the Over 40 Mixed; and Dave found new experience playing in the 40’s against World Champion Dragutin Surbek

Twenty-seven years ago, at the ’77 U.S. Open, Dave and Donna were getting along so well that they won the U.S. Open A Mixed Doubles. Now in 1991 they won the first of their 3 straight Over 40 U.S. Closed Mixed Championships. During that early ‘90’s time Donna was Operations Director for both the U.S. Closed and Open, and also Secretary of the USTTA. Larry Hodges called them the Senior “Road Warriors,” the “King and Queen of the U.S. Senior Circuit.”

In the 1992 U.S. Open American All-Star Senior Men’s event, Dave was playing Bohdan Dawidowicz who’d beaten him in an All-Star Senior the year before. Each knew how they wanted to play the other. After 15 minutes of the 1st game, Dave led…1-0. When the expedited match, which Dave won, finally ended, the umpire from Qatar asked if he could be in a photo with the two of them because he was sure this had to be an historic match.