{"id":413783,"date":"2024-09-25T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=413783"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Henzon-family-Asuncion-top-4-Fs-tourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Henzon-family-Asuncion-top-4-Fs-tourney\/","title":{"rendered":"Henzon family, Asuncion top 4 Fs tourney"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Henzon family made up of Ernie, Joanne, and Chelsea teamed up with good friend Richard Asuncion to bag the gold medal in last weekend\u2019s Fun Fabulous Four Square and Fickle Ball Tournament held at the Capitol Hill courts.<\/p>\n

The Henzons and Asuncion beat the team made up of Donn Dunlop, Marivic Dunlop, Nicky Nichols, and Mihoko Suzuki in the finals of the Pickleball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands-organized competition.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s doubles, Marivic Dunlop and Suzuki beat the mother-and-daughter pair of Joanne and Chelsea, 15-5.<\/p>\n

Asuncion and Ernie Henzon, however, equalized things with a 15-10 win over Don Dunlop and Nichols.<\/p>\n

Ernie Henzon then teamed up with his daughter Chelsea in the first mixed doubles match and took a 2-1 lead in the finals following 15-8 victory over Don Dunlop and Suzuki.<\/p>\n

The eventual champions then clinched the gold after Asuncion paired up with Joanne and turned back Nichols and Marivic Dunlop in a tightly contested second mixed doubles, 15-12, to win the finals in a score of 3-1.<\/p>\n

Ernie Henzon attributed familiarity and belief in a higher being for their win in the Fun Fabulous Four Square and Fickle Ball Tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say our secret to success lies more with not just our abilities but our prayers and faith in God. We also try our best to practice every day to refine our skills and take each game as a lesson rather than a win or loss. We have been playing since July 2022,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asuncion, for his part, said hard work and persistence proved to be the recipe for success in their team winning the gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team did a good job. We all worked hard and we really prepared before the tournament by practicing almost every night at the American Memorial Park courts. To my teammates, well done and keep on working hard for our next competition and tournament,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

A total of eight teams\u2014composed of two men and two women per team\u2014participated in the Fun Fabulous Four Square and Fickle Ball Tournament held last Sept. 21 and 22.<\/p>\n

Saturday adopted a Four Square format where individuals competed in a round-robin competition. The play was fast-paced and intense with teams changing and moving to new courts every 20 minutes. This was the first time that this type of play had been played on Saipan.<\/p>\n

The teams with the Top 4 scores and the teams with the lower four scores from Saturday competed on Sunday in a Major League Pickleball format. Major League Pickleball consists of women\u2019s doubles, men\u2019s doubles, and two games of mixed doubles. Sunday\u2019s competition was single elimination to decide the gold and silver medalists.<\/p>\n

In related news, PFNMI is in the process of renovating the Capitol Hill courts into the first dedicated pickleball courts on the island. The club is securing sponsors to replace the lights, fencing, and resurface the court surface. The next event at the Capitol Hill courts will show off the newly refurbished courts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From left, Richard Asuncion, Joanne Henzon, Chelsea Henzon, and Ernie Henzon pose after winning the gold in the Fun Fabulous Four Square and Fickle Ball Tournament last weekend at the Capitol Hill courts.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Participants of the Fun Fabulous Four Square and Fickle Ball Tournament organized by the Pickleball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands pose for a group photo.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Henzon family made up of Ernie, Joanne, and Chelsea teamed up with good friend…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}