page_title: Masako Katsura
section_title: Detail of play
hierarchical_section_title: Masako Katsura / 1952 World Three-Cushion Billiards tournament / Detail of play
caption_attribution_description: English: Final standing sheet for 1952 World Three-Cushion Tournament held in San Francisco at Welker Cochran and Tex Zimmerman's 924 Club, March 6, 1952 through March 22, 1952. Image emulates the form of the actual handwritten standing sheet used to record matches during the tournament. Created using PAINT.net
context_page_description: Masako Katsura, nicknamed "Katsy" and sometimes called the "First Lady of Billiards", was a Japanese carom billiards player who was most active in the 1950s. Katsura blazed a trail for women in the sport by competing and placing 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 with him 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.
context_section_description: On the second day of the competition, March 7, 1952, Katsura drew Irving Crane for her first match. They made quite a contrast as Crane was the tallest player at the tourney, 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." Crane's main discipline was straight pool, at which he won numerous championships, including six world titles. The match was close, but Crane prevailed 50 to 42 in 57 innings. On March 10, 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 March 11, 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."
  On March 14, Katsura faced the undefeated Hoppe, losing 50 to 31 in 36 innings. 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. Matsuyama edged out his protégé with a close 50 to 48 finish 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
  On March 18 Katsura trounced Art Rubin 50–28 in 58 innings. but was handed a worse defeat in her next match on March 20, losing to Bozeman 50 to 18 in 52 innings. In her last match on March 21, Katsura pulled off a 50–46 win against Kilgore in 61 innings. This was the biggest upset of the tournament. Kilgore, the "Giant Killer", was the only player other than Matsuyama who was considered to have a fighting chance at dethroning Hoppe. Between this win and her earlier win over Procita, Katsura had beaten the only two players in the tournament that had won their matches against Hoppe. That evening a separate exhibition match between Katsura and Kilgore was featured on KRON-TV, with commentary provided by Cochran. The next day the tournament concluded with Hoppe repeating as champion as he had so many times before. Katsura took seventh place, ahead of Procita at eighth place, Chamaco at ninth and Rubin at tenth. Above her were Crane at sixth, Rubin at fifth, Kilgore at fourth, Bozeman at third and Matsuyama as runner-up.
  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."
caption: Chart recording final standings for the 1952 World Three-Cushion tournament. The form emulates that of the original handwritten chart used at the tournament.[46] The three numbers in each box are read as follows: the top number is the points scored by the player; at bottom right is the number of innings; at bottom left is the player's high run.[46]
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