EASL: CHRIS NEWSOME MAKES UNEXPECTED RETURN IN MERALCO LOSS

MANILA, Philippines—Nursing a knee injury, Chris Newsome wasn’t supposed to see action in Meralco’s game against Ryukyu in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Newsome, however, got the green light to play for the Bolts just hours before the clash. The veteran guard also felt that the chance to reach the finals was too hard to pass up.

READ: EASL: Luigi Trillo, Meralco savor home crowd backing

“From how it was looking, I wasn’t supposed to play today but I’m blessed that my recovery process was going faster than expected and everything went well,” he told the Inquirer at Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday night.

“[There were] no relapses or no setbacks so you know I just kept going with it and got cleared to go contact.”

Newsome hurt his MCL during the Bolts’ Philippine Cup semifinals series against the TNT Tropang 5G.

READ: Chris Newsome will be Gilas ready despite hurting knee

The veteran guard returned, but he was still groping for form, scoring only three points in 19 minutes as the Bolts fell to the Golden Kings, 88-79.

With Meralco’s EASL campaign over, Newsome turns his attention to Gilas Pilipinas for the second window of the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers happening later this month.

2026-02-14T05:31:53Z