Masako Katsura was born on March 7, 1913, in Tokyo, Japan. She was born in the Japanese city of Tokyo. She is known as the “First Lady of Billiards” since she is a well-known billiards player. In 1952, she became the first woman to win the World Three-Cushion Billiards Championship.
| Nickname(s) | Katsy |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Citizenship | American |
| Born | 1913 Tokyo, Empire of Japan |
| Died | 1995 (aged 81–82)Japan |
| Occupation | Professional carom billiards player |
| Spouse(s) | Vernon Greenleaf(m. 1950; died 1967) |
| Sports | Billiards |
| Country | Japan |
| Turned Professional | 1947 |
| Coached by | Tomio KobashiKinney Matsuyama |
| Retired | 1961 |
Table of Contents
Information about yourself:
She was born in Tokyo, Japan. Masako Katsura Biography claims that she lived with her father till his untimely death when she was 12 years old. She had three sisters and a younger brother. She began living with her older sister and her better half during this time. At the age of 37, she married Vernon Greenleaf, a United States sergeant, and relocated to the United States. They didn’t have any children together.
Billiards Professional Career:
Masako Katsura learned to play pool from Tomio Kobashi, the owner of a billiards club. He’s her husband’s brother-in-law. She began working there during her senior year of high school, completing her specialisation. She began her career as an excellent pool player at the age of 15, competing in and winning co-ed tournaments in Japan and China. Kinney Matsuyama, a former three-time National Billiards champion of Japan and a U.S. public champion, began teaching her in 1937.
Immigration to the United States:
Greenleaf was transferred from Haneda Air Base in Tokyo to a US position in 1951. He and Katsura, who spoke little English, boarded the USS Breckinridge and arrived in San Francisco around the end of December 1951, just a few months before the World Three-Cushion Billiards Championships of 1952 were scheduled to begin on March 6. After hearing about Katsura’s beauty from Matsuyama, Cochran, whose billiard saloon was supporting the competition, had given her a restricted invitation to play in the major showdown. Cochran was an eight-time world champion, having won titles in three-pad billiards in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1944, and 1945, as well as 18.2 balkline in 1927 and 1934. Cochran sent his son, W. R. (Dick) Cochran, a marine officer in Japan, to investigate, and he returned with a glowing report that said (possibly to Cochran’s annoyance), “this young girl is superior to you!” Despite the fact that the Billiard Congress of America had finally obtained the choice as competition support, they gave Cochran the option of welcoming her.
Facts:
- Katsura was featured in a Google Doodle on the web search page on March 7, 2021, to commemorate International Women’s Day.
- Katsy is a nickname she has earned for herself.
- She is often regarded as the best female athlete of all time.