HANGZHOU – Filipino gamer Jorrell Aristorenas suffered a 0-2 loss to Brunei bet Rashed Alrowaihi at the start of the EA Sport FC Online competitions of the 2023 Asian Games here on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, London-born Aristorenas, who also dabbles in football as a Stallion FC player, dropped to the lower bracket, where he will meet India’s Charnjot Singh.

Some 36 players representing 22 teams are competing at the 5,000-capacity China Hangzhou Esports Centre for the right to be crowned the inaugural Asian Games’ esports champion.

Alrowaihi advanced to the second round of the upper bracket, with Thai player Teedech Saisakul and Ali Al Hammadi of the United Arab Emirates.

Park Gi Yong of Korea also reached the second round with Hong Kong’s Fan Cheuk Wa and Li Jian Cheng of China.

In the Arena of Valor action, Thailand’s Vatcharanan Taworn took down the Miguel Banaag-led Philippine Sibol team, 1-0, to move up in Group D.

Meanwhile, Pinoy gamer Ross Villarin plunges into action in the Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Round of 32 Match 4 on Tuesday against Chantasriviroje Sitta.

After debuting in the Asiad as a demo event in 2018 in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia, esports is coming in as a regular sport, expected to be the most watched in the games’ calendar.

Asiad esports features five PC games and two mobile games, covering both multiplayer online battle arena, or MOBA, and single-player genres.

Gamers will be pitting skills in League of Legends, Arena of Valor Asian Games Version (also known as Honor of Kings); Peace Elite Asian Games Version (also known as PUBG Mobile); Dota 2; Dream Three Kingdoms 2; Street Fighter V: Champion Edition; and EA Sports FC (also known as FIFA Online 4). (ai/mnm)

MANILA – Esports has been added to the list of events to be played in this year’s Palarong Pambansa in Marikina.

No less than Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro made the announcement during the national meet’s press launch at the Marikina Sports Center on Friday.

Esports has been assigned as a demonstration sport.

Only one title, Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), will be played in the inaugural Palaro esports tournament.

“We chose the most accessible game for the Palaro. Most of the Filipinos right now use their mobile phones to actually play the game, so Mobile Legends muna ang ni-recommend namin sa board (so it is the first game we recommended to the board),” said Marlon Marcelo, the executive director of the Philippine Esports Organization (PESO).

PESO has been tapped to help the Marikina City government, the Department of Education, and the Philippine Sports Commission in organizing the Palaro MLBB event.

Marcelo then bared that some other esports titles, such as Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) 2 and Valorant, could be added to the fray once esports becomes an official part of the Palaro, probably as soon as next year.

Cebu City, Antique, and Negros Occidental are bidding for the hosting rights for the 2024 Palaro, but considering their economic advancements, Cebu and Negros Occidental’s capital city of Bacolod could provide bigger venues for the esports event should more titles be played.

For now, according to Marcelo, the goal is the successful staging of the 2023 Palaro MLBB event.

“Since this is a demo sport, we would want to make sure that everything is smooth as possible on the first try. Mas madali kasing i-organize yung MLBB (It’s easier to organize an MLBB event), to be honest, just because Valorant and DOTA 2 require PCs (personal computers) and a very stable Internet connection, so it’s really one of the optics na kailangang ayusin (that we have to fix),” he said.

While the eligibility guidelines have yet to be placed for the Palaro MLBB tournament, Marcelo said pros are not allowed to join even if they are still studying in high school.

“I would say that this is a very even playing field,” he said. “This is a very big step for Philippine esports kasi recognized na siya ng (because it is now recognized by the) Palaro.” (PNA)