Inaugural Marianas Cup Pickleball Tournament in Nov.

Donn Dunlop in white from Saipan, and Albert Manansala, left, from Guam are seen playing in the King’s Court during the King’s Court event last September at the American Memorial Park pickleball courts. (LEIGH GASES)

Pickleball fans are in for a treat as the inaugural Marianas Cup Pickleball Tournament between Saipan and Guam teams is set for Saturday, Nov. 5, at the American Memorial Park courts.

The Pickleball Federation of the Northern Mariana Islands members from Saipan for team one consists of Marivic Dunlop, Chelsea Henzon, Karen Klassen, and Mimi Zhang. The second Saipan team is made up of Dr. Nelson Krum who is a player and the coach, Donn Dunlop, Nicky Nichols, and Roy Pangelinan.

Their challengers from Guam’s team one, most of whom are no strangers to the Saipan courts, consists of Derick Alcorn, Tomi Castillo, Albert Manansala, and Aubrey Owens. Team two players are William Josler, Miya Taylor, Jhun Pulongbarit, and Odette Taylor.

“The oldest player is 72 and the youngest 15,” said Krum, who is the PFNMI president. “This competition is the best that Guam has against our best. No ratings for the players.”

The tournament will be played in a League Play format, in which there will be a women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and two games of mixed doubles per match. Each round is the best two out of three games to 11and they win by two points.

The winning island holds the Marianas Cup trophy for a year until the next tournament, which will be hosted by Guam.

When asked how the Saipan teams are preparing for the tournament, the coach and founder of PFNMI said, “We are practicing four times a week to prepare for the tournament. We should be ready to represent our island of Saipan and I have every expectation of winning the event and the trophy!”

The tournament begins at 5pm and the Saipan pickleball representative said, “I would love for anyone who can to come and watch and cheer our team to success!  There will be a potluck dinner after the tournament on Saturday evening.”

Two years since its birth, PFNMI has grown from five regular players to 125—with sets of them seen playing in the early hours or at night almost daily at the American Memorial Park pickleball courts. The club turned two years old last August and is the newest member of the Northern Marianas Sports Association.

Last July, the federation held its first Pickleball Tournament in which Guam players Derick Alcorn, Tomi Castillo, William Josler, Ronni Connelly, and Albert Manansala joined, along with CNMI national tennis players Colin Sinclair, Robbie Schorr, and Colin Ramsay.

Then in September, they held the “King’s Court” event, which was not an actual tournament but was designed as a fun event where every player played 16 10-minute matches and the goal of each player was to reach and be on the King’s Court at the end.

With over 4 million players, pickleball is arguably the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and its popularity has spread all over the world as pickleball is currently played in 57 countries—18 more countries and pickleball can qualify as an Olympic sport.

If you have any questions about the PFNMI, call or text Krum at 670-789-8201, or email @ nelsonkrum@msn.com. Let him know if you would like to be added to the Pickleball CNMI Group Chat on WhatsApp.