ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Esports devider SIBOL MLBB sweeps Malaysia in Asian Games qualifier opener

SIBOL MLBB sweeps Malaysia in Asian Games qualifier opener

Published Jun 19, 2026 08:56 am

At A Glance

  • The SIBOL Mobile Legends: Bang Bang national team was off to a rousing start in the 2026 Asian Games Qualifiers campaign, blanking host Malaysia, 2-0 at the Sentosa Convention Center on Thursday, June 18.

The SIBOL Mobile Legends: Bang Bang national team was off to a rousing start in the 2026 Asian Games Qualifiers campaign, blanking host Malaysia, 2-0, at the Sentosa Convention Center on Thursday, June 18.

As expected the Filipinos immediately stamped their class against the Southeast Asian rivals with Karl Nepomuceno setting the tone in the opener before Alston Pabico put on the finishing touches in the second game. 

The convincing victory immediately placed the Filipinos in strong position in the group stage, where only five teams from Southeast Asia will gain the right to compete at the main stage of the regional meet. 

Head coach Allec "SN4P" Alvarado welcomed the strong start but stressed that the team is still in the process of adapting to the tournament meta.

"Maganda naman yung pinakita ng team. Good warm-up match against one of the top teams din dito. Nag-aadjust pa kami sa mga meta at sana sunod-sunod yung panalo at momentum ng team moving forward," said Alvarado.

"Same sa MPL PH, pag panalo yung first, momentum pa rin siya. At malaking tulong 'yan," he added.

Nepomuceno shone on the jungle Akai pick, initiating with a pinpoint Heavy Spin that secured a crucial double kill and ignited a 4-for-1 exchange, which the Filipinos quickly converted into the fourth-minute Turtle objective.

The Nationals seized complete control of the map from there, allowing just a single death for the remainder of the contest before capping the game with a decisive 5-for-0 wipeout during a base turret siege in the 10th minute.

Alston Pabico spearheaded the victory with a flawless performance of three kills and 11 assists without a single death, while debuting gold laner Dave Viana Jr. made an immediate impact, tallying three kills and four assists in his first international appearance for the national team.

Game 2 saw another dominant performance in the early game for the Filipinos, highlighted by Sanford Vinuya's solo kill on Malaysia's Muhammad Razif that capped off a 5-1 lead on the kill score late in the fourth minute.

Malaysia briefly threatened to turn the tide during the ninth-minute Lord fight after shutting down Karl Ndepomuceno, however, SIBOL responded with three kills of its own before securing the crucial objective.

With the Lord on their side, SIBOL closed the series with a clinical 5-for-2 wipeout during an 11th-minute base turret siege, led by Alston Pabico's game-sealing double kill.

Related Tags

Sibol National Team MLBB
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.