American Eric Oncins got the rockstar treatment when he came over to Southeast Asia for the PPA Tour Asia—and left an even bigger star after he and partner Tyson McGuffin ruled the Men’s Doubles of both the Panas Malaysia Cup 2025 and the MB Vietnam Cup 2025 in back-to-back weekends.
But, according to Oncins himself, that double gold probably wouldn’t have happened if not for a coin toss.
Guesting on Zane Navratil’s Picklepod podcast, Oncins shared that going to Asia wasn’t even on his agenda as he was set to play the PPA Vintage Open in Sacramento. Even when JOOLA, a partner of PPA Tour Asia, called him a couple of times and asked if he could be McGuffin’s partner, Oncins evidently said “no.” What’s more, Oncins told Navratil that in one of the calls, he laid out a condition in jest: “If you get me business class, I’ll be there.”
Fate Intervenes Through a . . . Coin Toss
JOOLA didn’t call back, Oncins recalled. But he thought of the offer and decided to do a coin toss to determine if he’d go or not—business class or otherwise. Long story short, the coin toss told Oncins to go, and the rest is history.
Oncins and McGuffin came, saw, and conquered Southeast Asia—first invading Malaysia and then taking Vietnam by storm. And judging by his interview with Navratil, who himself came over to Southeast Asia with Oncins, McGuffin, and a host of others, the double champ is glad he said yes after initially saying no. In fact, he made it be known via Instagram, where he gave JOOLA a shoutout for making the trip possible even on short notice.
“What an amazing two weeks, just want to give a shout out to JOOLA and Gordon to make this all happen within like 3 days of notice,” Oncins wrote. “When I got the call asking to get on a 30 hour flight 3 days from that time I was like “no chance” took some convincing from @johnny_goldberg and maybe a coin toss 🤪… At the end everything worked out well and now we are coming back home with two golds and part of a Guinness world record!! 💪💪”
Oncins, like Navratil, was also blown away by the record-setting crowd in Vietnam that turned up to witness Championship Saturday, where Oncins and McGuffin won their second gold.
“As soon as I went in there, I think we walked in together in the stadium like we got the first look together. I was like, ‘Holy shit. This is unreal,’” Oncins recalled when he and McGuffin entered the filled stadium. “I got goosebumps, chills, just from being there, feeling that energy… That’s how pickleball should be. Let the fans get into it.”
Now, had that coin toss said otherwise, Oncins wouldn’t have been part of history.
Catch Navratil’s podcast here:
