The Philippines national esports team, known as Sibol, bagged 5 medals including 3 gold medals in the inaugural esports medal event at the 30th Southeast Asian Games held last December 5 to 11.
The country won two gold medals in team titles Dota 2 and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and another in the individual title Starcraft II. The national team also won a silver and bronze medal in Tekken 7.
While three gold medals weren’t the promised number, the country still managed to be the top dog for esports. It won the most medals among the nine participating nations. Thailand landed in the second spot with two gold and silver medals while Malaysia came in at third place with one gold and one bronze medal.
The Philippines won a convincing gold medal in Starcraft II with Caviar “EnDerr” Acampado handily beating his Singaporean rival in the grand finals (4-1). Acampado took an early 2-0 lead before his opponent took game three to avoid a possible sweep. Acampado regained his momentum to take game four before strategically, dismantling the Singaporean in game 5.
Meanwhile, both Mobile Legends and Dota 2 teams went to a greater distance in their grand finals as both squads needed five games to clinch the gold medal. The Sibol Mobile Legends all-stars was down 2-1, heading into the four-game of the best of five grand finals. It was the heroics of mid-laner Karl “Karltzy” Nepumoceno that brought the gold medal to the host country. The 15-year-old ML prodigy racked up a 9-2-4 (kills/death/assist) in game four on his iconic Esmeralda pick. He carried his team, earning himself nine kills and only a single death to the end of the series.
Sibol Dota 2, on the other hand, had a tougher series against an all-star Thai team. The Filipinos took the first blood in the best-of-five series after a dominating performance by Marvin “Boomy” Rushton on his signature Elder Titan. The Thais recovered in game two with their Viper mid lane pick. The Pinoys secured the tournament point after winning the third game but the all-star Thais would force a decider behind their hyper carry Anti Mage in game four.
When game five came around, Thailand came out swinging. The team crushed any rotations the Pinoys threw at them leading the 20-4 kills at one point. However, the Filipinos only needed to buy time and space for their hyper carry Phantom Lancer who 1 v 5 the Thais around a Roshan fight to turn the tide of the game back to the Filipinos. It didn’t take long for the Pinoys to come back and win the country’s second gold medal.
Tekken 7, on the other hand, failed to live up to its billing, yielding only a silver and bronze medal for the country. Alexandre “AK” Laverez and Andreij “Doujin” Albar were both dispatched by Thailand’s Nopparut “Book” Hempamorn en route to the gold medal.
Hempamorn initially sent Laverez to the lower bracket of the tournament sweeping him in the first round of the upper bracket. Albar managed to take one game away from the Thai in the upper bracket finals but was still forced down in the loser bracket. It was Laverez who emerged victorious in the all-Filipino lower bracket finals to once again face Hempamorn in the finals.
Laverez came close to reset the bracket against the Thai player. He pushed the match to a game five and fell short two rounds, 3-1, to force the match to a do-or-die best of five. Despite the heartbreak ending, the Pinoy was still upbeat as they took home two more medals for the country and earned the first double medal finish for esports. It wasa heartbreak for Sibol’s Hearthstone and Arena of Valor teams as they were dropped during the group stage of their respective games.