Masako Katsura

Early years Masako Katsura was born on 7 March 1913 in Tokyo. Little is known about Katsura's childhood in Japan. Katsura had three sisters and a brother. Their father died when Katsura was 12 years old and she went to live with her elder sister and her sister's husband, Tomio Kobashi, who owned a billiard parlor. and by 14 she was working as a billiard attendant there. Kobashi was a fine player and taught Katsura the fundamentals of various carom billiards games. Katsura also had a billiard table at home, bought by her family after she showed intense interest in the sport. Katsura practiced diligently, and began competing against Japanese men and beating them. In 1937, Katsura met Kinrey Matsuyama, who had won Japan's national three-cushion championship multiple times. was the runner-up three other times and had four second-place finishes in world competition at 18.2 balkline prior to World War II. Matsuyama was impressed with Katsura and began teaching her top level play. Marriage and titles in Japan During 1947 Katsura caught the eye of American serviceman Vernon Greenleaf a master sergeant in the U.S. Army's Quartermaster Corps who had been in the armed services for 22 years. but never had any children. In later years she said that her high run in three-cushion billiards (number of points scored consecutively in a single inning) was 19. Immigration to the U.S. In 1951 Greenleaf was transferred to a U.S. post from Haneda Air Base in Tokyo. Katsura had been conditionally invited to play at the world championship after Cochran, whose billiard parlor was hosting the tournament, had heard of her brilliance from Matsuyama. Cochran was an 8-time world champion having won the world crown at three-cushion billiards in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1944 and 1945, and at 18.2 balkline, in 1927 and 1934. Cochran sent his son, W. R. (Dick) Cochran, a naval officer stationed in Japan, to investigate and received back a glowing report Though the decision was ultimately in the hands of the Billiard Congress of America as tournament sponsor, they gave Cochran the option to invite her. ==1952 World Three-Cushion Billiards tournament==

First woman to compete for a world title Katsura's participation in the 1952 World Three-Cushion Billiards title marked the first time that a woman had competed for any world billiards title. This was only ten years after Ruth McGinnis became the first woman to have ever been invited to play in any men's professional billiard championship (the New York State Championship of 1942). The defending champion was the then 64-year-old internationally renowned Willie Hoppe, who would retire later that year with 51 world titles to his name between 1906 and 1952 in three forms of carom billiards, three-cushion, (four sub-disciplines of) balkline and cushion caroms. Before the tournament, speculation had it that when Hoppe met Katsura in the championship in the to 50 points format, he would defeat her with Katsura still needing at least 40. After seeing her play, Hoppe said "she has a fine stroke and can make shots with either hand. I look forward to playing with her." Tournament roster The 10 champions slated to play in the round robin format tournament The championship between the invitees was to take place at Cochran's 924 Club, with 45 total games to be played over the 17-day tournament ending on 22 March 1952. First place earned a $2,000 purse (today $), plus thousands in exhibition fees. Following behind to eight places were prizes of $1,000, $700, $500, $350, $300, $250 and $250 respectively. while Katsura was described by reporter Curley Grieve of the San Francisco Examiner as "so small and doll-like she looks like a figurine in her flowing, gold-satin gown." The match was close, but Crane prevailed 50 to 42 On 10 March, Katsura defeated Herb Hardt 50 to 42 in 58 innings. Katsura was significantly behind at one point but counted 15 points in five innings to take the lead. On 11 March, she lost to Chamaco, 50 to 35, but the following day Katsura upset Procita 50–43 in 63 innings, with runs of six, five and four. "Spectators exclaimed 'brilliant' and 'sensational' at some of her shots." Though Hoppe was a darling of the public, the crowd of more than 500 spectators was clearly rooting for Katsura throughout. The next day she faced her mentor, Matsuyama, considered the contender with the best shot at beating Hoppe. in 51 innings. By the 21st inning Matsuyama held a 29–21 lead. Katsura battled back, the score 43–42 in her favor by inning 33, but Matsuyama ran three in the 46th inning, and Katsura could not close the gap. Mentor and protégé alike posted high runs of six in the match. , with commentary provided by Cochran. The next day the tournament concluded with Hoppe repeating as champion as he had so many times before. Following the competition, Jay Bozeman, said "We've found it hard to believe that a woman could actually step into the best billiard championship in the world and hold her own. Miss Katsura is one of the finest players I've faced in a world's tournament", while Welker Cochran, five-time holder of the Billiards World Crown, predicted: "Given another two or three years of American competition and she will be the world's champion.... Masako has opened a new field for women. Her presence has made the game attractive to women for the first time. She has the power of a man and strokes beautifully. Her maneuvers with the cue ball are fantastic. All she needs is a bit more experience and she will be unbeatable." ==Exhibition tours==

Soon after the 1952 championship, Cochran announced he was coming out of a seven-year retirement to play an exhibition tour with Katsura. The duo previewed their tour with a three-day engagement at the Garden City Parlor in San Jose starting on 18 April 1952. Thereafter, they planned stops in Kansas City (2–3 May); Chicago (5–11 May); Detroit in mid-May; and on to tentative stops in Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Diego, Los Angeles and Long Beach. The format was to be a 100-point straight-rail match, followed by a 50-point three-cushion game played under tournament conditions Katsura stated prior to departing: "I hope my tour will convince women that billiards is not only a man's game. Women can play just as well as men." and standing 5 feet tall—just about the height of a standard cue stick. Katsura started another exhibition series with Cochran at his club in February 1953 and, tuning up for the 1953 world tournament, to start on 26 March, went on a nationwide tour with Willie Hoppe in the latter part of February 1953. The 30-day tour of the northeastern U.S. included Chicago, Boston and other locations. Her husband accompanied her to provide translation. often pegged as the greatest player of all time. ==1953–1954==

1953 World Three-Cushion tournament With Hoppe retired as of 1952, there was excitement over who would take the 1953 world three-cushion crown, to be held in Chicago at the Chicago Town Club in the Sheraton Hotel. Eleven competitors were slated to play, many repeats of the prior year, including Chamaco, Katsura, Matsuyama, Bozeman, Kilgore, Procita and Rubin. New to the field were Harold Worst of Grand Rapids, Hollywood's John Fitzpatrick, Mel Lundberg of Minneapolis and Ezequiel Navarra of Argentina. Navarra was considered the favorite by experts, having won championships that year in Cuba, Colombia, Peru and Argentina and having just come off an exhibition tour with Cochran in which Navarra averaged a formidable 1.16, scoring 1,295 three-cushions in 1,120 innings over the length of the tour. Thereafter she: lost to Matsuyama 50 to 37 in 39 innings; lost to Rubin, 50–37, in 52 innings; beat Fitzpatrick 50–38 in 50 innings, undefeated to that point; beat Chamaco 50 to 44, in 56 innings with a high run of eight; followed by a loss to Kilgore, 50 to 41, in 42 innings; and a loss to Harold Worst 50 to 42, in 52 innings; but then defeated Bozeman 50–48 in 60 innings in her last match. When the dust had settled, Katsura shared fifth place with Matsuyama, each having won and lost five matches. The winner of the world crown was Kilgore with an eight-win, two-loss record. Navarra and Bozeman tied for second. Exhibitions and death of Matsuyama exhibition to be held on 22 April 1953, in a Long Beach, California, billiard parlor After the 1953 championship wrapped up, Katsura and Matsuyama gave an exhibition together in Long Beach, California (advertisement at right). The format was 100 points at balkline, followed by a race to 40 at three-cushion and then a trick shot exhibition. Katsura crushed her teacher, 100–11 and 100–3 at balkline, but Matsuyama won both the three-cushion matches, 40–34 and 40–39. This was Katsura and Matsuyama's last close interaction. After returning to Japan, Matsuyama suffered a heart attack and died on 20 December 1953. He had had plans to move to Honolulu with his family, become an American citizen, and purchase a billiard parlor. His eldest son, Hideo, 18, was attending a San Francisco high school at the time. He was said to have taught all of Japan's top players, among which Katsura was the star pupil. At the end Kilgore was the winner with a final score of 600 to 547. Kilgore said: "She played really remarkable billiards and I played a little over my head." The next week Katsura faced Kilgore again in another exhibition at Welker Cochran's room, beating him 50–33 in 45 innings. 1954 World Three-Cushion tournament The 1954 World Three-Cushion tournament was held in Buenos Aires with only 8 contestants: Katsura; Ray Miller of Jackson, Michigan; Harold Worst; Argentinian brothers Juan and Ezequiel Navarra; Welker Cochran, who had come out of retirement; Chamaco; and defending champion, Kilgore. in 76 innings, Katsura then beat his brother, Juan Navarra, 60–52 in 77 innings in her last match to take fourth place overall. On the last day Harold Worst and Ezequiel Navarra ended in a tie with a playoff to be held initially to 60 points, later raised to a 350 point format, at which Worst ultimately prevailed on 25 October 1954. ==1955–1961==

Hiatus and exhibition Little was seen of Katsura for the next few years. She made 30 exhibition appearances in 1958 for about five years. An earlier primer, 撞球入門 ("Introduction to Billiards"), was published in 1952. In 1959 it was announced that Katsura and Harold Worst would compete in a one week exhibition match to 1,200 points, beginning 9 February at Randolph Recreations in Chicago. Worst and Katsura moved their show to Philadelphia next and thereafter went to exhibit in New York. TV spots On 1 March 1959, Katsura appeared on CBS' popular primetime television show, ''What's My Line?'' The show was in the format of a guessing game, in which a panel attempted to determine the line (occupation), or in the case of a famous "mystery guest", the identity of the contestant. After she signed in using Japanese characters on a chalk board, show officials listed Katsura's occupation for the audience as "Professional Billiard Player (World's Women's Champion)". to show how television productions set up and filmed a covered wagon rolling over and crashing on cue. She appeared again on You Asked For It in a 25 November 1960 broadcast, this time operating in her bailiwick, demonstrating trick shots for the camera. 1961 title match with Worst By 1961 and for a few years prior, there was no longer an organized world three-cushion championship. Accordingly, Harold Worst, the reigning champion since 1954, issued a challenge match to Katsura to defend his title, with the match to take place 13–18 March of that year at the Pantlind Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Meanwhile, Chamaco claimed the world crown as well, after winning the tournament in Argentina. ==After 1961==

Little was heard from Katsura for many years after the 1961 world championship. McGoorty lamented her retirement, stating various theories that he had heard bandied about in billiard circles, such as that her husband kept her from playing for various reasons. Pool and billiard author Robert Byrne wrote that after Katsura finished that performance "without a miss she smiled and bowed to the applauding crowd, stepping away from the spotlight, and disappeared forever from the American billiard stage". Katsura returned to Japan in or about 1990 to live with her sister, Noriko, where she said she planned to live out her days. Katsura died in 1995. ==Legacy==

In September 2002 a memorial tournament for Katsura, billed as "Katsura Memorial: The First Ladies Three Cushion Grandprix", was held in Japan and aired on SKY PerfecTV! On 7 March 2021, Katsura was featured in a Google Doodle on the search engine's home page, as part of its celebration of International Women's Day. ==Footnotes==