Masako Katsura

Masako Katsura
Black-and-white photo of Japanese woman in fancy dress, approximately 30 years old, stretched out over corner of carom billiards table with her cue stick in hand. Her eyes are intently focused on the shot in front of her, two billiards balls about a foot apart, with her cue tip about two inches behind the closest ball in position for the hit; the table scene is in spotlight and in the much darker background can be just made out spectators in chairs, all appearing to be men.
Katsura lining up a shot at the 1954 World Three-Cushion Billiards tournament in Buenos Aires[1]
Personal information
Native name桂 マサ子
NicknameKatsy
NationalityJapanese
CitizenshipAmerican
Born(1913-03-07)7 March 1913
Tokyo City, Empire of Japan
Died20 December 1995(1995-12-20) (aged 82)[2]
Japan
OccupationProfessional carom billiards player
Spouse
Vernon Greenleaf
​
​
(m. 1950; died 1967)​
Sport
CountryJapan
Sportcarom billiards
Turned pro1947
Coached byTomio Kobashi
Kinrey Matsuyama
Retired1961

Masako Katsura (桂 マサ子, Katsura Masako, listenⓘ; 7 March 1913 – 20 December 1995), nicknamed "Katsy"[3] and sometimes called the "First Lady of Billiards",[4] was a Japanese carom billiards player who was most active in the 1950s. She was the first woman to compete and place among the best in the male-dominated world of professional billiards. First learning the game from her brother-in-law and then under the tutelage of Japanese champion Kinrey Matsuyama, Katsura became Japan's only female professional player. In competition in Japan, she took second place in the country's national three-cushion billiards championship three times. In exhibition she was noted for running 10,000 points at the game of straight rail.

After marrying a U.S. Army non-commissioned officer in 1950, Katsura emigrated to the United States in 1951. There she was invited to play in the 1952 U.S.-sponsored World Three-Cushion Championship, ultimately taking seventh place at that competition. Katsura was the first woman ever to be included in any world billiards tournament. Her fame cemented, Katsura went on an exhibition tour of the United States with eight-time world champion Welker Cochran, and later with 51-time world champion Willie Hoppe. In 1953 and 1954, she again competed for the world three-cushion crown, taking fifth and fourth places respectively.

Little was seen of Katsura for the next few years. She made 30 exhibition appearances in 1958, and went on a one-week exhibition engagement the following year with Harold Worst, but did not compete in any professional tournaments. In 1959, she made two television appearances on ABC's You Asked for It, and one on the CBS primetime television hit What's My Line? Katsura returned to competition in 1961, playing a challenge match for the World Three-Cushion title against Worst, then reigning world champion, and was defeated by him. Katsura disappeared from the sport thereafter, only making a brief impromptu appearance in 1976. She moved back to Japan around 1990 and died in 1995.

  1. ^ Staff writers (1 November 1954). "A Big Week For Women Everywhere". Sports Illustrated. Vol. 1, no. 12. p. 23. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  2. ^ Byrne's Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards [ロバート・バーンのビリヤード・アドバンスブック] (in Japanese). Translated by Kengo Hitomi. BABジャパン出版局. 2000. p. 210. ISBN 978-4-89422-391-2. 註：桂マサ子は1995年にその生涯を閉じている (literally "Masako Katsura closes the life in 1995"){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. ^ Staff writers (11 April 1955). "Pat On The Back: A salute to some who have earned the good opinion of the world of sport, if not yet its tallest headlines". Sports Illustrated. Vol. 2, no. 15. p. 72. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Ex-Billiards Champ Dead at The Age of 63" (PDF). Utica NY Daily Press. 30 July 1960. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2012.