HANGZHOU – The Sibol team of Robert de Guzman picked up a win and a loss in the Dream Three Kingdoms 2 event as the Philippines put up a semblance of a fight in the 19th Asian Games esports competitions at the Hangzhou Esports center on Wednesday.
De Guzman and his teammates first turned back the Sardor Azimov-led Uzbekistan, 1-0, before bowing, 0-1, to the Meirlan Yanmakhanov-powered Kazakhstan, to place second in Group B.
The top two squads in each group will reach the quarterfinals, which now has Kazakhstan, China and Thailand as the first qualifiers.
As the second-placed team in the group, the Philippines, which is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, arranged a quarterfinal showdown with Hong Kong on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the esports competition making its debut in the games.
In Group A, Laos took the lead after getting past Hong Kong and Tajikistan in the morning matches.
Group C saw Vietnam stopping Kyrgyzstan, 1-0, but the latter bounced back with a triumph over Nepal, 1-0.
Vietnam stayed unbeaten after whipping Nepal, 1-0, for their second straight victory.
Meanwhile, Sibol tries its luck in DOTA 2 when it meets India on Friday.
(ai/mnm)
The SIBOL team IESF PHOTO
The Philippines’ SIBOL team achieved an impressive victory at the IESF World Esports Championship 2023, securing the championship title in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament.
In a thrilling best-of-five series against Indonesia, Team Philippines emerged victorious, claiming the lion’s share of the $100,000 prize pool.
This achievement marked SIBOL’s first flawless victory sweep, from the qualifiers to the Grand Finals, leaving Indonesia with runner-up honors.
The 2023 championship unfolded in Iași, Romania, where 16 international Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams competed in the lower and upper brackets, all vying for the prestigious IESF MLBB champion title.
Saudi Arabia secured the third-place position, followed by Egypt in fourth. (ai/mnm)