So, who is Masako Katsura? Most people search for her as Masako Katsura billiards or pool Masako Katsura. But what about she was the first woman to compete with professional male billiard players? She also had a couple of nicknames like “First Lady of Billiards” or “Katsy.” Let’s know more about her in this article.
Masako Katsura
Here is some basic information about her.
Native Name: 桂 マサ子
Born: 7 March 1913 (Tokyo, Empire of Japan)
Nationality: Japanese
Citizenship: American
Occupation: Carom Billiards Player
Died: 20 December 1995 (Japan)
Spouse: Vernon Greenleaf (1950- 1967)
Early Life
Masako Katsura was born in Tokyo in 1913. She had three sisters and one brother. When she was only 12 years old, her father died, then she went to her elder sister. Her elder sister’s husband owned a billiard parlor, and Katsura used to spend most of her time in the billiard room. Tomio Kobashi was a fine player, and he used to teach Katsura.
Career Start
After practicing and lessons by Kobashi, she attended her first competitive tournament. Katsura won her first championship straight rail of Japan. Later her two younger sisters won the straight rail championship. She said about her first tournament in an interview in 1959.
“Then I turned professional and began touring with a sister all over Japan, China, and Formosa.”
Met World Champion
In the year 1937, Kinrey Matsuyama met Katsura. Kinrey won the national three-cushion championship multiple times. He also won the United States national championship and was the runner-up more than once. He also won a couple of other tournaments and was impressed by the playing of Katsura. So, Kinrey started to teach Katsura. By the year 1937, Katsura became a complete player and was one of the stars in Japan. She was also the first female professional player.
Titles and Marriage
Venom Greenleaf, a sergeant in the United States Army for almost 22 years. Vernon and Katsura met each other in a Tokyo service club. Within a short period of time, Greenleaf started liking Katsura and started taking lessons. Both were brilliant in their respective fields. In 1947, they married but never had any children.
At the same time, Katsura was able to reach the finals at Japan’s national three-cushion championship. But she lost the finals. She took the runner-up three times. She also completed 10,000 contiguous points at the straight rail. She stopped at the number because that was a benchmark.
US Immigration
In 1951, Greenleaf had to go to the United States. Katsura also went to the United States with her husband, Greenleaf. Then Katsura participated in the 1951 World Three-Cushion Billiards tournament. Cochran, a world champion, invited Katsura to participate in the tournament. Cochran sent his son to Japan to investigate Katsura.
When Cochran’s son came back, he reported that she was better than his father. This was the time when she was living in the United States. After getting all the reports and showing a great exhibition game, Cochran finalized the invitation and said,
“She’s the most marvelous thing I ever saw. She’s liable to beat anybody, even Willie Hoppe. I could not see any weak spots. She’s going to give lots of those players fits.”
1952 World Three-Cushion Billiards Tournament
As Cochran invited Katsura to participate in the tournament, she became the first woman to compete for the world title. Before that, Ruth McGinnis was invited to participate in a men’s professional championship in New York in 1942. In the 1952 competition, the defending champion was Willie Hoppe, he was 64 years old at that time. And this was the last tournament that he wanted to play after a long career with 51 titles in all forms of three-cushion, carom billiards, cushion caroms, and balkline.
Everybody was curious when Katsura would meet Hoppe. And she was brilliant at that tournament. Also, she was the pioneer, so there were more opportunities open for women. Hoppe said on Katsura,
“She has a fine stroke and can make shots with either hand. I look forward to playing with her.”
1953-52 World Tournament
Hoppe retired in 1952, and there was the new question that who would win the 1953 world three-cushion crown. The next tournament took place in Chicago Town Club in the Sheraton Hotel. There were mainly Katsura, Chamaco, and Matsuyama, who were the top contenders. Katsura lost to Matsuyama in her second match. Katsura was in fifth place, sharing with Matsuyama.
1953 Exhibition
Matsuyama and Katsura showed an exhibition in California. After a couple of months, Matsuyama had a heart attack and died. After that, Katsura played another match. In a match, Kilgore defeated Katsura, and the final score was 600 to 547. After that, Kilgore said,
“She played really remarkable billiards, and I played a little over my head.”
1954 World Three-Cushion Tournament
In the 1954 world tournament, there were 8 contestants. In that tournament, Katsura again was the only woman to compete in the tournament. In that tournament, Ezequiel Navarra and Harold Worst ended up in a tie.
1955-1961
In 1958, Katsura managed 30 exhibition appearances. At that time, she was on a little break. In 1959, Katsura and Harold Worst competed with each other for 1,200 points. Then they played in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. Later, Masako Katsura appeared in TV shows as well. In 1961, Worst and Katsura met again in the title-winning match.
In 1976, Katsura made an unexpected appearance in San Francisco. There, she was able to take 100 straight points. And she did that without a single miss. In 1990, Katsura returned to Japan and started to live with her sister.
Final Years
Throughout Masako Katsura’s life was astonishing and one of the major reasons that she was famous is that she was the first and only woman to compete in a men’s tournament at her time. After returning to Japan, she died after a couple of years in 1995. In 2002, there was a tournament that was a memorial for Katsura. In 2021, she was also in the Google Doodle to celebrate International Women’s Day. She will always be remembered as carom billiards Masako Katsura.
Thank You.
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