By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) officially announced that they will be postponing Game 6 of the 2022 Governor’s Cup finals between the Meralco Bolts and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel due to a fire incident.
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial made the tough decision as thick smoke was all over the venue caused by faulty wiring in the ventilation system of the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“Pasensya po pero hindi natin ginusto ito. Pero kailangan nating i-prioritize ang health and safety ng ating teams, players, staff, at fans,” said Marcial.
The fire broke out at around 11:30 in the morning and was immediately responded to by the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Officials from the Bureau of Fire Protection then discussed the scenarios with commissioner Marcial which was later agreed that Game 6 must not push through.
“Ang sinabi sa akin ng Araneta, okay ang Bureau of Fire Protection na fire out pero yung usok hanggang dito e. Hindi makakabuti sa lahat,” Marcial added.
The PBA then announced that Game 6 will take place on Friday, April 22, and will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Meralco is seeking to force a do-or-die Game 7 with Ginebra leading the series at 3-2 after back-to-back wins in games five and six.
The trio of Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, and LA Tenorio are expected to deliver the goods for Ginebra but Tony Bishop, Chris Newsome, and Allein Maliksi will try to extend the series.
