'Lady Beast' strikes blow for girl gamers

CHIBA, Japan - In her online world, she is "Lady Beast", deftly operating her green monster Blanka in dizzying hand-to-hand street-fighting combat on the global professional gaming circuit.

In real life, she is Yuko Momochi, a 31-year-old slender Japanese woman with short hair dyed light brown, who is hoping to encourage more girls into the male-dominated world of professional gaming.

A former car saleswoman, Momochi got her break in competitive gaming in 2011 after she defeated a previously invincible character in a Street Fighter match, earning her a sponsorship offer from a team from the United States.