Finally, some good news coming from the Filipino esports athletes.

The Sibol national team advanced to the playoffs of the Dreams Three Kingdoms 2 event in Esports in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

The team, composed of esport analysts-turned-athletes Caisam “Wolf” Nepueto, Manjean Faldas, Karl “Rockhart” To, Mark Adrian “Butters” Jison, Shin Boo Ponferrada and Neil “Midnight” De Guzman, split its assignments to finish with a 1-1 record in Group A.

The Sibol DTK2 team dominated Uzbekistan for its first game before falling short against Kazakhstan in the second game. Still, it was enough to advance to the knockout stage and shed some sunshine to the gloomy campaign of the Filipino esports athletes so far in the quadrennial meet.

The Filipinos have been eliminated in the three esports events so far in Asiad with the representatives in EA FIFA Online event first to bow out of contention. 

Jorrel Aristorenas came home empty-handed after falling to Bahrain, 2-0, which dropped him to the lower bracket. He was then sent packing by an Indian foe who dominated him again, 2-0.

Sibol's Arena of Valor team composed of Cedrik Santos, Miguel Banaag, Dragon Hart Dajao, Eleazar Salle, Maynard Limon and Alfonso Marcus Valmores quickly followed to the exit doors after losing to Thailand.

Donald Gimperoso and Ross Jhan Villarin also fell short in Street Fighter V. The Filipinos initially bounced back from a first game 0-2 defeat against Thailand with a 2-0 victory against Maldives in the lower bracket.

They, however, met Thailand anew, which reasserted its mastery over Sibol with a 2-1 win, eliminating the Filipinos from contention.

Sibol now only has three esports titles left to get a medal including DTK2. The Nationals are still set to participate in Player’s Unknown Battleground and DOTA 2, where the Filipinos have the best chance of landing on the podium.