Abarrientos doubts Caguioa can return soon

AKTV/Paul Ryan Tan

Johnny Abarrientos knows what Mark Caguioa is going through.

In 2002, the B-MEG assistant coach also had a serious eye injury that took him a while to recover from, the same predicament that the Ginebra superstar is going through.

Abarrientos suffered his injury in Game One of the All-Filipino Conference finals in 2002.

“Dalawa naging injury ko n’un. Sa zygoma (cheek bone) yung isa tapos yung isa naman sa bone na nag-hold dun sa eye brow natin,” said Abarrientos. “Pumasok kasi yung eye ball ko nu’n kaya ang nangyayari, nagkakaroon ako ng double vision.”

Abarrientos was required by his doctor not to see action for five months.

“Hindi na talaga ako nakabalik after the injury in Game One. After five months, bumalik ako pero I was wearing a very thick mask and it really affected my game. Point guard pa naman ang laro ko so dapat you need to have wider vision on the court,” he said.

Abarrientos recalled how nervous he was when he sustained those injuries.

“Puwede kasi akong mabulag at that time. Pero nung nasa St. Luke’s ako, may kasabay ako nun car accident naman. Kailangan talaga ng overhaul ng mukha niya dahil sa aksidenteng nangyari pero sabi ng doctor, maayos naman yun, kaya lumakas ang loob ko.”

Caguioa, on the other hand, was accidentally hit in the right eye by James Yap.

According to a report by the Manila Bulletin, Caguioa broke his orbital bone socket and the Ginebra superstar won’t be seeing action for three months.

In an interview with AKTV, Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen also said that Caguioa is prohibited from running and jumping, which prevents the spitfire guard from joining the team’s practice.

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