Masako Katsura
Japanese billiards player (1913–1995)
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Key Takeaways
- Masako Katsura ( 桂 マサ子 , Katsura Masako ; ; 7 March 1913 – 20 December 1995) , nicknamed " Katsy " and sometimes called the " First Lady of Billiards ", was a Japanese carom billiards player who was most active in the 1950s.
- 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 exhibition she was noted for running 10,000 points at the game of straight rail.
- Army non-commissioned officer in 1950, Katsura emigrated to the United States in 1951.
- -sponsored World Three-Cushion Championship, ultimately taking seventh place at that competition.
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WikipediaMasako Katsura (桂 マサ子, Katsura Masako; ; 7 March 1913 – 20 December 1995), nicknamed "Katsy" and sometimes called the "First Lady of Billiards", 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.
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