Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 March 1916 — KOJI YAMADA’S CAREER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KOJI YAMADA’S CAREER

Abandoned Course at Heidelberg University in Germany. Famous Japanese Billiard Player Lured to Game by Chance —Added Much Impetus to Gentleman’s Sport in His Country. Forsaking what promised to be a. brilliant career as a surgeon to become a billiard champion is the story of KoJI Yamada, the Jap, who is a member of the Champion Billiard Players’ league. Yamada's father Is classed among the most prosperous and progressive citizens of Japan. He was ambitious for a distinguished career for his son, and desired him to have the best advantages of education which the world could offer. With this In view, It was decided that Koji should attend the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and prepare himself for the practice of surgery. Koji was not only willing but enthusiastic, and for a time was one of the most promising of the young students at the German university. It was merely by accident that Koji found out that he would be more successful as a billiard player than as a surgeon. From the first he not only showed remarkable skill as a billiard playeTT~ but became so fascinated with the game that he spent more time at the Students’ club billiard hall than he did at the lecture room. When Koji returned home he failed to bring a diploma from Heidelberg, but he did bring with him the billiard championship of, Germany. This fact had much to do with adding an impetus to the game in Japan, and before coming to America Koji had accomplished the easy task of annexing the championship of his own country and the somewhat more difficult task of renewing the confidence of a father in a son who had gone contrary to

the wishes of the father. Now Koji is even a bigger man in Japan than if he had pursued his studies and returned home with his diploma. Since coming to this country he played a sensational game. Perhaps the best match in which he has appeared was the one early in the summer with Willie Hoppe in New York. The champion was given the hardest battle of his career, and the Jap lost in a 14.1 match by only six points. The most wonderful thing about Yamada is that his game has constantly Improved, and his skill will be watched with much interest when he appears in the coming championship games.

Koji Yamada.