Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) executive director Marlon Marcelo believes that the future is bright for SIBOL’s Honor of Kings and all-female Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams following their respective stints in the China-ASEAN Esports Competition last week.

SIBOL, powered by SMART, fielded a roster composed of players from BOOM Esports and Execration for the Honor of Kings meet, while the Esports World Cup-winning Omega Empress, along with a standout from ZOL Esports FE, headlined the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang squad.

The national team, with the help of the Philippine Airlines, sent an Honor of Kings squad to an international tournament for the first time since the title became available to the country last June.

SIBOL Honor of Kings hardly showed any signs of jitters in its national team debut and displayed great resolve in clinching the bronze medal after a hard-fought three-game series victory against Indonesia, which was plagued by technical issues and lengthy delays

“The future is bright for our SIBOL Honor of Kings team after securing the bronze. We are moving in the right direction as we aim for success in yet another game title,” said Marcelo.

The SIBOL Honor of Kings team had an impressive start in its group stage run where they dispatched Thailand and Brunei, before losing to eventual champion and host squad China to close out the group stage.

Entering the semifinals as the No. 2 seed, the Philippines, which is also supported by Predator, faced off against the LGD Gaming MY-backed Malaysia and suffered a heartbreaking sweep.

The SIBOL Honor of Kings team was made up of team captain Miguel “Miggie” Banaag, Dragon Hard “Dragon” Dajao, Audrey “Ajizix” Cedro, and John Lloyd “Impressive” Dela Cruz, Eleazar “Azar” Salle,  along with coach Christian “Ciiyan” Villegas, all from BOOM Esports, as well as Karl Ken “Karlll” Bautista of Execration.

On the other hand, the SIBOL Mobile Legends: Bang Bang all-female team, who competed in an open tournament for the first time as well, crashed out in the group stage after losing to male squads Cambodia and China, represented by MPL KH team CFU Gaming and top Chinese squad Xianyou Gaming, respectively.

Despite the team’s early exit, Marcelo stated that competing against their male counterparts was a valuable experience for the all-female SIBOL MLBB team, as one of the federation’s goals is to bridge the noticeable skill gap between genders.

“For our MLBB team, this is a learning experience in how to approach an open-category tournament and the nuances associated with it,” said Marcelo, who was part of the delegation, along with SIBOL general manager Jab Escutin, team manager Jeff Victoriano, head coach Ralph Llabres, project manager Victor Cabuay, and correspondent Manjean Faldas.

The SIBOL Mobile Legends: Bang Bang squad was bannered by skipper Mery “Meeray” Vivero, Sheen “Shinoa” Perez, Gwyneth “Ayanami” Diagon, Kaye “Keishi” Alpuerto, Rica Fatima “Amoree” Amores, and coach Salman “King Salman” Macarambon of Omega Empress, while Lhoureian “Rianne” Alcaraz of ZOL Esports FE rounded out the lineup.

“Our heartfelt thanks to Philippine Airlines for providing us with a solid flight experience, along with our Premier partners Smart and Predator. We also extend our gratitude to the Philippine Sports Committee under Chairman Dickie Bachmann and Commissioner Walter Torres for their support,” expressed Marcelo.