Latest PH homecoming bittersweet for Rhenz Abando

Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Filipino import Rhenz Abando in an EASL Final Four match. –EASL PHOTO

LAPU-LAPU CITY—Rhenz Abando described playing before fellow Filipino fans in the East Asia Super League (EASL) Final Four as bittersweet after Anyang Jung Kwan Jang lost to the Seoul SK Knights in an all-Korean semis encounter here.

“I’m happy but also disappointed because I wasn’t healthy,” said Abando in Filipino after the Red Boosters went down 94-79 in Friday’s match at Hoops Dome in this city.

“But I’m also blessed to be able to play here, even though we didn’t get the win,” he also said, adding that being cheered allowed him to recall memories he had playing for Gilas Pilipinas in last year’s Fiba World Cup.

FINAL: Rhenz Abando and Anyang Jung Kwan Jang fall 94-79 to the Seoul SK Knights in the EASL Final Four inside Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu. | @jonasterradoINQ pic.twitter.com/BNinPpQeAG

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) March 8, 2024

READ: Rhenz Abando, Anyang fall to Seoul SK in EASL Final Four

Abando put up 11 points, three rebounds and one block in 20 minutes off the bench, but he and the Red Boosters acknowledged that they’re still working on trying to put the athletic forward back at full strength.

The Letran product played just his second game since returning from a spinal injury caused by a bad fall during a Korean Basketball League game in December.

Anyang failed to repeat its title run in last year’s Champions Week in Okinawa, Japan and was relegated to a match for third place against the loser of the other Final Four meeting between the Chiba Jets and the New Taipei City.

READ: Rhenz Abando has triumphant KBL return from spine injury

Chiba and New Taipei were playing as of posting time.

Abando was the obvious favorite of the good-sized crowd that came to watch the culminating phase of the continental tournament.