Pinoy basketball ref in Tokyo Games

Filipino referee Bong Pascual made his second appearance in the basketball competitions of the Tokyo Olympics, serving as one of the officials of the Luka Doncicled Slovenia’s lopsided victory Thursday, July 29 over the Rui Hachimura and host Japan.

Pascual was joined by crew chief Aleksandar Glisic of Serbia and Michael Weiland of Canada in officiating the contest that saw Doncic,thestaroftheNBA’s Dallas Mavericks, firing 25 points in Slovenia’s 116-81 rout of Japan in Saitama.

Doncic’s performance came after erupting for 48 points, tied for second most in Olympic history, in Slovenia’s 118-100 win over Argentina.

Hachimura, who plays for the Washington Wizards, finished with 34 points for Japan.

The 51-year-old supervisor of referees in the PBA began his Tokyo Olympics stint last Monday as crew chief of Spain’s 73-69 victory over South Korea in women’s basketball.

A veteran referee of FIBA competitions including the 2014 and 2019 FIBA World Cup, Pascual is making his second Olympic appearance a er serving as one of the officials of the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

The Rio stint made Pascual the second Filipino referee to officiate in the Olympics, joining Medardo Felipe who refereed the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Pascual had made it known that the ongoing Olympics will be his last before focusing on his current PBA role.

But Pascual said in a Spin.ph interview that he was almost bumped off from the Olympics a er a false positive COVID-19 test denied him a stint in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.