The Sibol MLBB team survived a huge scare from Singapore and pulled off a hard-earned 2-1 reverse sweep to secure a spot in the gold-medal round in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang esports event on Thursday, May 19, at the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Vietnam National Convention Center.
The PH bets overcame a Game 1 hiccup and a tight contest in the winner-take-all Game 3 to book a return trip to the finals of biennial meet and assure themselves of at least a silver medal.
With the Singaporeans pushing the Filipinos on brink of defeat, rookie Kyle "Dominic" Soto on Paquito and MPL PH Season 8 MVP Salic "Hadji" Imam on the Cecilion came through in crunchtime as they completed a crucial base defense against four players of Singapore in Game 3.
That play pumped some life to Sibol's hopes as it stalled the match to the late game that saw a grueling battle for position around the Lord pit past the 15-minute mark
A pick-off on Soul on the top lane after a three-man rotation from the Filipinos triggered the telling clash where Sibol managed to take out all of the heroes of Singapore.
Sibol then went for the one-lane push to close out the series with an 18-11 win, a recovery from a tough 15-14 comeback loss in Game 1.
It was the Filipinos who dictated the fights in Game 1 with Salic "Hadji" Imam providing the early game pick-offs with his backline dives using the roaming Natalia pick.
Singapore though found a way to neutralize those dives to protect Seilah's Xavier and Adammir's Beatrix to prevail in the crucial team fights.
A huge fight near midlane favored the Singaporeans as they completed a four-man wipe of Sibol and went for the one-way death push in the midlane to draw the series first blood.
The PH bets then displayed poise in Game 2 as they avoided defeat after cruising to a 21-10 triumph that forced the sudden-death.
Sibol played with a more cautious approach as it tried to avoid the same opening game mishap. They clung on theearly game lead and never relinquished it as the Filipinos prevailed in the crucial team fights by taking out Seilah's Xavier pick first.
Hadji put up a series-long brilliance with an 8-5-4 line on the Natalia, 5-1-13 on the Yve and a 6-1-10 tally on the Cecilion.