Meralco Bolts join FIBA Asia Champions Cup for second straight year

Meralco will once again represent the Philippines in the 2019 FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

The continental club tournament will be held in Bangkok for the second straight year from September 24-29.

This will be the second consecutive year that the Bolts will see action in the annual tournament.

The invitation was intended for San Miguel since they won the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, but the Beermen already has a stacked schedule ahead that includes a The Terrific 12 stint.

“The invitation is actually for our champion team which is San Miguel but I don’t think they committed,” Black said.

“But since our SBP (Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas) president (Al Panlilio) is also the board of governor for Meralco, he sent the Meralco team instead.”

Meralco finished fourth in last year’s meet when it fell to Iranian ball club SK Knightsi in the semifinals.

The Orangemen will have their hands full as the top club teams from all over the region will slug it out for the crown.

So far, Japan’s Alvark Tokyo, Korean team Ulsan Mobis, Guangdong Southern Tigers of China, and Thailand’s Hi-Tech City Bangkok are the teams that will join the week-long festivities.