Masako Katsura, a Japanese woman, ruled the world of billiards in the early 1900s. She was regarded as the top player in the world, earning her the title “The First Lady of Billiards.” In addition, Katsura is still regarded as one of the greatest historical players.
She was born in Tokyo. Katsura was the youngest of her sibling. Masako’s father died when she was just 12 years old. She started playing billiards at a very young age. At just 14, she started working as an assistant in billiard rooms.At the age of 15, she started playing like a professional. And went to Taiwan, China, Japan, and Taiwan for billiard events.
Masako Katsura was in the era when people in japan considered it disrespectful for girls to play games. However, Katsura was named the “First Lady of Billiards” in this era. And when she began traveling abroad in the 1930s, she used it as her professional name. She also wrote billiard-related books which were published in Japan. Masako Katsura finished second in Japan’s national three-cushion championship in 1948.
Furthermore, Katsura continued to finish second in subsequent years. Katsura outperformed many male billiard players and began participating in public billiard demos to encourage female billiard players. Katsura married Greenleaf, a master sergeant in the United States Army Quartermaster corps. Greenleaf died in 1967.
Katsura have no children. Unfortunately, Katsura lost 6 of her seven fights against Harold Worst. After the game, she kept a low profile and was rarely seen. Katsura even stops participating in exhibition suits. In 1990, Katsura moved back to Japan to live with her sister. However, she remained for the rest of her life and died in 1995.
Masako Katsura Early Life
Masako Katsura was born in Tokyo on March 7, 1913. In Japan, little is known about Katsura’s adolescence. Katsura was the youngest of her four siblings. Katsura’s father died when she was 12 years old. However, she went to live with her elder sister and her sister’s husband, Tomio Kobashi. He was the man who managed a billiard bornparlour.
“I was vulnerable and tired all the time,” Katsura said. “So my mom wanted me to play billiards to give me exercise and make me more potent.”
At 13, she was great at the game and could be found routinely in the billiard rooms. And by 14, Katsura was working as an assistant there.
Masako Katsura Career
As Katsura’s sport improved, she was dispatched to compete in events with Japanese male gamers. Masako began assisting her sisters in events in China, Japan, and Taiwan. In 1937 Masako’s billiard career was improved when Kinney Matsuyama met her. He taught her about how to become a better-stage professional in the game.
Katsura’s talents were so amazing because, at that time, women were not as competitive in billiards as men. In Japan, it was considered disrespectful for a woman to play the game in public.However, Masako Katsura was named the “First Lady of Billiards” in that era. And when she began traveling abroad in the 1930s and used it as her professional name.
Katsura’s new guide was famous celebrity Kinney Matsuyama. Kinney Matsuyama won multiple eastern 3-cushion titles and a U.S. national championship in 1934. By 1947, Katsura established herself as Japan’s most effective women’s professional billiard player.
In 1948, she finished second in Japan’s national three-cushion championship. Katsura outperformed many male billiard players. Furthermore, began taking part in public billiard demonstrations to encourage girls to take up the game. Katsura got 10,000 points in four and a half hours in an instant rail game on one of the 1940s shows.
In 1951, Katsura moved to California and started playing pool. However, America has a largely male-dominated culture with no female competitors. She was the first woman to win the 1952 World Three Cushion Billiards Tournament and made other records while playing.
She started writing Billiard-related books, which were published in japan. Unfortunately, Katsura lost 6 of her seven fights against Harold Worst. She kept a low profile after the game and was rarely seen, even in display suits.
The love life of Katsura
By 1947, Masako Katsura had been noticed by an American serviceman named Vernon Greenleaf. Greenleaf was a master sergeant in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps and had served for 22 years. Katsura arranged and conducted billiard events at a Tokyo service club where the two met.
Greenleaf was posted in Japan, and was astonished by Katsura’s gaming abilities.The couple settled in the United States, and then they lived happily. However, Green leaf died in 1967. Masako has no children, nor did she marry again.
Life in the U.S.
Katsura married Greenleaf in 1950. Shortly after marriage, Greenleaf was posted again in the United States, where Katsura accompanied him. By 1952 The World Three-Cushion Billiards Championship was scheduled in San Francisco. Masako Katsura was set to compete in the tournament after receiving a conditional placement from Cochran, the tournament’s organizer.
Cochran was an eight-time world champion who ruled between 1933 and 1945. He dispatched his son, W.R. Cochran, a naval officer stationed in Japan, to look for himself.W.R. was impressed by Katsura’s skills and stated to his father: She’s better than you are.’
When she and her husband arrived in the United States, she submitted herself to a private presentation for Cochran. According to Cochran, she hit 300- and 400-yard runs, producing ‘pretty remarkable shots’ as he watched in astonishment.
Backing up from Billiard
By 1959 Harold Worst and Katsura played in an exhibition match for a week. However, with a maximum score of 1,200 points at the Randolph Recreations facility in Chicago. The event was subsequently relocated to Philadelphia. At there, six matches were played to 50 points, after which it was on display in New York.
In the billiards world, such three-cushion world championship competitions had neither been planned nor occurred until 1961. As a result, Harold Worst made Masako Katsura an aggressive match offer of $2,000. Harold, after this, holds the title for more than seven years. However, Katsura agreed, but Worst defeated him 350 to 276.
Following the 1961 world championship period, Katsura fell silent, and the public discovered that she was largely living off the grid. It was rumored that she had retired professionally and from the pool world. In 1990, Katsura moved back to Japan to live with her sister, where she remained for the rest of her life and died in 1995.
Masako Katsura Legacy
Masako was inducted into the Women’s Professional Billiard Association Hall of Fame in 1976. Katsura was known as one of the sport’s all-time top players to honor her historic achievements.
Welker Cochran noted that: “Masako has opened a new field for women. Her presence has made the game attractive to women for the first time. But,” he added, “She has the power of a man.”
FAQ’s
Masako how did she died?
Katsura died in 1995 when she was in japan. There was no usual cause of her death.
Who is Masako Katsura?
Katsura was the first lady of billiards; she was the first woman to compete 1953 World three cushion Billiards tournament.
Who was Masako Katsura?
Katsura was the first lady of billiards; she was the first woman to compete 1953 World three cushion Billiards tournament.
For more information, visit cosmosmagazines.com
