The most insane pickleball experience of Eric Oncins' life happened halfway around the world, by sheer happenstance, in front of a crowd that would make most American tournaments jealous.
Fresh off back-to-back gold medals in Malaysia and Vietnam, surging pro pickleball player Eric Oncins joined the PicklePod to chat through the experience with rival competitor and host, Zane Navratil.
It's quite a story. Eric wasn't planning on going at all. Then fate intervened.
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From 'No Way' to Business Class: How Eric Almost Missed History Three days before the Malaysia tournament, Eric wasn't planning to go anywhere. In fact, he was scheduled to play the PPA Vintage Open in Sacramento and looking forward to it.
Then his phone rang.
Federico Staksrud couldn't get his visa sorted in time to attend, he was told. On the line was an executive from JOOLA, looking for a high-quality partner for Tyson McGuffin. Oncins said no. Then he said no again.
"If you get me business class, I'll be there," Oncins told them, half-joking. When they initially declined, he figured that was that. But circumstances have a way of changing minds, and suddenly Oncins found himself doing a coin toss to decide whether to make the trip or stay stateside.
The coin said go. Good thing he listened.
What followed was a whirlwind two weeks that saw Oncins and McGuffin go undefeated across... FULL ARTICLE FOUND ON: https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/eric-oncins-flipped-a-coin-then-went-on-to-win-back-to-back-ppa-asia-gold-medals/
