People · Japan
Yuya Sakai (酒井裕也)
3×3 · top 0.52% of 284,439 all-time · competing since April 2022 · 2022SAKA01
Yuya Sakai (酒井裕也) has been competing for 4 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 6.06, set at Japan Championship 2026, puts him in the top 0.52% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 20th in Japan. Until June 2011, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 7 competitions since April 2022, he has put 133 official solves on the record across nine events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 18% around a typical one; 97% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 7.88 in April 2022 to 6.06, a 23% improvement. Yuya has entered seven competitions, more competitions than 88% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 6.06 | 8.50 | top 0.52% | 20 / 3,329 | |
| 5×5 | 56.08 | 1:07.10 | top 3.8% | 29 / 420 | |
| Square-1 | 8.61 | 10.43 | top 3.9% | 10 / 245 | |
| 4×4 | 32.24 | 34.75 | top 4.4% | 54 / 667 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 14.94 | 18.97 | top 8.0% | 81 / 529 | |
| Megaminx | 1:11.93 | 1:14.90 | top 16.8% | 113 / 313 | |
| Skewb | 5.90 | 8.05 | top 25.0% | 128 / 338 | |
| 7×7 | 4:02.02 | 4:10.94 | early days — 3 solves | 70 / 188 | |
| 3×3 blindfolded | 4:42.70 | — | early days — 1 solve | 253 / 282 |
Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.
The line so far
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 18 Jul 2026Five personal bests in one day at Japan Championship 2026.
- 29 Apr 2022First competition: Minatomirai 2022. A 9.66 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Japan Championship 2026 · 18 Jul 2026 — 5 personal bests set
- Kanto Spring 2026 · 17 May 2026 — 2 personal bests set
- Tokyo Winter 2025 · 7 Dec 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Kansai Odd and BLD 2025 · 15 Jun 2025
- Otsu Biwako Autumn 2023 · 23 Sep 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Ota Summer 2022 · 30 Jul 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Minatomirai 2022 · 29 Apr 2022 — 1 personal best set
Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.
The circuit
The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.
- Taku Yanai (矢内拓) — met in 22 rounds, finished ahead 17 times
- Takayuki Tanaka (田中隆喜) — met in 22 rounds, finished ahead 17 times
- Makoto Takaoka (高岡誠) — met in 19 rounds, finished ahead twice
Next targets
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 0.06 away.
- A sub-50 5×5 single — 713 people have one; it is 6.08 away.
Targets move as he improves.