Kohara and Longoni Inducted into International Cuemakers Hall of Fame

Kohara and Longoni Inducted into International Cuemakers Hall of Fame
The Internation Cuemakers Association is pleased to announce the 2007 inductees. Tad Kohara and Alessandro Longoni have been inducted into the International Cuemakers Hall of Fame. Tad Kohara was inducted into the Living category and Alessandro Longoni was inducted into the Deceased category. Past inductees include Herman Rambow, George Balabushka, Jerry Franklin, Frank Paradise, and Gus Szamboti.
Below is a little information about the two inductees:

Tad Kohara LIVING Category
Tad was born in California and in the early 1940’s Tad went to Hiroshima, Japan to study cabinet making. In 1945 the school he was attending was destroyed by the Atomic bomb. He returned to the United States in 1949. When Tad started making cues in 1963, his first cues were based on Titlist blanks. Then he started making simple birdseye cues. When Harvey Martin retired he bought Harvey’s equipment. He developed the hit of his cues by relying on the advice of players like Willie Mosconi, Jimmy Caras and Joe Balsis. Tad moved far beyond just making great playing cues, but also made his unique cue designs that use a lot of fancy ring and slot work that include many dots inlaid inside of other dots. Tad currently uses 18 lathes and 3 pantographs to produce those unique designs that Tad has made so popular. Tad also developed his own tip that he uses on his cues. Besides building great cues for decades, Tad is credited for opening up the Japan cue market for the American cuemakers. Schrager and others quickly followed his lead and got their cues into that market, but it was Tad who paved the way. Tad is still building cues today with the help of his son Fred.

Alessandro Longoni DECEASED Category
Alessandro got a great deal of experience as a young man while working for the prestigious Italian Billiards manufacture “F.lli Dalla Chiesa”. In 1945 he decided with the help of his wife Maria and children to start his own cue making company. Because of the hard economic times in Italy following World War Two, he often had to borrow the use of machinery and instruments from other local craftsmen just building lower volume custom cues. In the fifties he got his production cue business started. In the sixties his cues started gaining acceptance in the USA and today they are one of the most recognized European cues in the US market. Alessandro passed away in 1978, but his son Renzo kept the operation moving forward. Now Renzo’s son Pierluigi is also helping manage the business. They now have sister operations in Brno (Czech Republic) and Germany. They build some very unique cues. Some have hundreds of inlays that wrap around the cue making Knights and Jesters and other medieval figures. In 1995 they stated using CNC machinery and have expanded to making many thousands of cues a year. They are most famous for their Pool and Carom cues but also make cues for other cue sports like: Russian Pyramid, Carolina, Five Skittles, Goriziana and Italians.

For a complete International Cuemakers Hall of Fame list see www.internationalcuemakers.com

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.