Until the 1950s, billiards were male-dominated, and Willie Hoppe was its undisputed king. Only then he got an unprecedented opponent who conquered the game as the first-ever female player. She was Masako Katsura, the legendary Japanese carom billiards player.
Nicknamed ‘Katsy,’ Katsura was not only the first international billiards player but a winner of many titles. Creating her identity in the world of a game played only by men, she became an inspiration for many. The true genius was named the ‘First Lady of Billiards.’
Masako Katsura Identity
Masako Katsura was born in 1913 in Tokyo. There’s little information available about her early life and upbringing other than that she lived with three sisters and a brother. She was weak, and her mother asked her to learn billiards to overcome her weakness.
Masako Katsura age was only 12 when her father died. Her father’s death was a significant event behind the ordinary Japanese girl becoming pool player Masako Katsura. After her father’s death, Katsura had to live with her sister, whose husband, Tomio Kobashi, owned a billiard parlor. Katsura’s billiard skills came out at a birthday party. She possessed a knack for trick shots since she was introduced to billiards.
This is how the carom billiards Masako Katsura relationship began, and she continued to become more passionate about the game day by day. While she worked in the hall as an assistant, her devotion to the game mounted beyond everything.
How and When Did Pool Player Masako Katsura Emerge?
Katsura’s enormous love for the game made the family buy a billiard table for her at home. It is assumed that Kobashi, a decent player, guided her in the early days. Then she prepared herself with the instructions of Kinrey Matsuyama, a Japanese title holder.
It didn’t take much time for her to enter the professional world as billiards player Masako Katsura. Soon she emerged as a champion, beating the top male players who, till then, dominated competitive billiards.
Though billiards was a popular game in the 1920s in Tokyo, Masako Katsura Japanese pioneered women to step into competitive tournaments. Women in Japan didn’t play the game publicly until then, which made the achievements of Masako Katsura more significant.
How Did Player Masako Katsura Start Gaining Recognition?
At 15, Masako Katsura won the women’s championship straight rail tournament for her country. It happened even before she got proper training from Matsuyama.
In the 1930s, billiards player Masako Katsura started her global tours. By this time, people started calling her the ‘First Lady of Billiards,’ as they admired her widely for winning several games.
Pool player Masako Katsura won the second position three times in the three-cushion billiards championship of Japan. She scored 10,000 points in exhibition at the straight rail game.
Married Life
Katsura met American serviceman Vernon Greenleaf, a master sergeant in the US army, in a service club in Tokyo. Vernon got overwhelmed by the lady who brought finesse to the power sport. They fell in love and married in 1950.
Katsura Shifted to the US
During World War II, player Masako Katsura held a one-woman performance for Japanese soldiers. After the war ended, her career and skills focused on the American soldiers. Welker Cochran then invited Masako Katsura to the US after he learned about her extraordinary talent and graceful playing skills.
Katsura shifted to the USA in 1951, where an entirely new universe fell open in front of her. After his transfer from Tokyo’s Haneda Air Base, Vernon also came to the USA then.
The carom billiards Masako Katsura excelled in was solely a men’s game, even in America, she saw in her astonishment. Women occasionally played the game here, but mostly beyond public attention.
She got a place in the global Three-Cushion Billiards tournament in 1952 within three months of her entry in San Fransisco with the help of Cochran.
How Did Katsura Blow Away Cochran?
Cochran, the eight-time world champion, was yet to check Masako Katsura’s talent as her participation in the tournament was conditional. He then asked his son W.R. Cochran in Japan to reaffirm Katsura’s skills. WR was already mind-boggled by Katsura’s talent in billiards and wrote to his father that she was even greater than him.
After arriving in the US, Masako Katsura proved every word W.R. said to senior Cochran to be true in his private exhibition. Satisfied with her grace and skills, he made the path for Katsura to enter her first world championship.
She was the maiden female player to participate in such a competition, of which Willie Hoppe was the defending champion. Katsura finished seventh in the competition but became known worldwide for breaking the gender barrier in billiards.
Katsura’s Career Took Off
There was a massive hype over the already popular sport where a woman was participating for the first time. People were eager to see a confrontation between Hoppe and Katsura on March 14, 1952. Though she lost to Hoppe, the darling of billiards fans, thousands cheered for the sensational lady.
While the media described Katsura’s accomplishments as a woman, other players praised her for her skills.
She also participated in the 1953 US Women’s Three-Cushion Billiards Championship. She finished fifth and fourth in the 1953 and 1954 world Three-Cushion Billiards Championship. She also went on an exhibition tour with Willie Hoppe. Katsura won one of the matches against Hoppe, the billiards king, in a multiple-day exhibition in Chicago.
Taking a Break
Making a comeback in 1958 after a break, Masako Katsura participated in thirty events. Meanwhile, she published and sold two books on the pool. The sensation on billiards player Masako Katsura returned with her participation in a tournament versus Harold Worst in 1959.
She appeared in the game for the last time in 1976 to go on a 100-point run. Then she disappeared again.
Masako Katsura Death
Pool player Masako Katsura returned to Japan in 1990 and died on December 20, 1995. There must be curiosity over Masako Katsura and how did she die, as she was indeed a legend.
Masako Katsura cause of death was quite natural. She was sick due to aging for five years and died of the same.
Masako Katsura: A Legacy
Women’s Professional Billiard Association inducted Masako Katsura into the hall of fame. The United States Billiard Media Association honored her with the title of the player of the Generation.
She was not just a player but a legacy. Katsura inspired many women to step into a sport that was the ultimate definition of masculinity in Japan, the USA, and the world. Her contributions to motivating women for billiards and all types of sports gained a spot on Google Doodle. She was projected in the Google Doodle on international women’s day in 2021.
As long as the game remains, she will be considered one of the greatest billiards players of all time.
