Action PH fell short of its bid to qualify to the VCT APAC Challengers main draw after losing twice in the double-elimination play-in on Sunday, March 13.
The third placers of the VCT Challengers PH Stage 1 couldn’t sustain its impressive start in the play-in as after defeating Vietnamese squad Team BAAM to kick off its campaign, the PH bets faltered in its last two assignments.
APH had its first shot at making in the main event when it faced Onic Esports from Indonesia in the Winner’s match. The PH bets however suffered a 2-0 sweep at the hands of the Indonesians, succumbing 11-13 in the first map in Ascent and 9-13 in the second map in Breeze.
Despite the loss, APH had the chance to punch a ticket to the main draw when it took on Thai squad Full Sense in the do-or-die match.
The Filipino players however still suffered the same fate after absorbing another 2-0 defeat. Full Sense dominated APH 13-5 in Haven and 13-2 in Split to complete the 2-0 sweep.
The two consecutive losses put its victory over Team BAAM to waste where they scored a 2-0 sweep, 14-12 in Icebox and 13-4 in Ascent.
The Challengers PH champion South Built Esports and runner-up Naos Esports are now the only Filipino teams remaining in the regional tilt after securing an outright group stage berth when they finished as the top two teams in the PH qualifier.