San Miguel and Meralco will represent the PBA in the upcoming EASL season. Dennis Acosta (file photo)
By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA–Meralco returns as one of the two Philippine teams that will compete in the upcoming EASL season.
Coming on last year as a replacement for Barangay Ginebra, the Bolts, by being the PBA Philippine Cup champions, earned their way to an EASL berth this time.
San Miguel, the reigning Commissioner’s Cup champion, also secured a spot in the EASL, marking the team’s third time participating in the league dating back to 2019.
The Golden Kings, though, could find themselves facing off against former player Allen Durham as he will suit up for the Bolts in the upcoming PBA Governors’ Cup with a possibility that he too will join their EASL squad.
SMB, on the other hand, will play in Group A along with Suwon, Dave Ildefonso’s former team, Hiroshima, Kai Sotto and Balti Baltazar’s former club, and Taoyuan.
“The PBA is excited to send two of its champion teams to compete in EASL. The San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts showed their strength last season by winning the Commissioner’s Cup and Philippine Cup, respectively. They will represent Filipino basketball with pride and we hope that one of them will be crowned the champion of East Asia next season,” PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said on Friday.
EASL CEO Henry Kerins added, “Filipino teams and fans bring great competitiveness and passion to EASL and we are delighted to confirm the participation of the San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts next season. We expect them to compete strongly for the championship, against the best teams from the rest of East Asia.”
The regional league has yet to announce when the new season will start, but it may have a similar calendar to last year with an October start.