Sibol PUBG suffers heartbreaker, falls short of Asian Games berth
At A Glance
- The SIBOL PUBG Mobile national team fell tantalizingly short of qualifying for the 2026 Asian Games after finishing seventh in the group stage of the qualifiers on Friday in Vietnam.
The SIBOL PUBG Mobile national team fell tantalizingly short of qualifying for the 2026 Asian Games after finishing seventh in the group stage on Friday in Vietnam.
The Filipinos tied Jordan for sixth place in the standings but lost the final qualifying spot on a tiebreaker, with Jordan advancing thanks to a superior Winner Winner Chicken Dinner count.
"It was definitely a heartbreaking result for all of us. The players gave everything they had throughout the competition, so losing our qualification hopes through a tiebreaker was difficult to accept. Naturally, there was disappointment after Match 6 because everyone knew how close we were," said head coach Dean Jesus Dosdado.
SIBOL opened with consecutive fourth-place finishes before an eighth-place result without an elimination in Match 3 dropped the squad to seventh overall.
The Filipinos bounced back with a fifth-place finish and three eliminations in Match 4, courtesy of Abdul Barode, Francis Fusingan, and Gerald Leonillo. Another fourth-place effort in Match 5, highlighted by Barode's two eliminations, still place SIBOL in eighth entering the final match.
Facing elimination, the Philippines delivered its best performance in Match 6. Barode recorded two eliminations while Leonillo and Ryven Baldove added one each as SIBOL reached the final circle with all four players still alive.
The Filipinos eventually found themselves in a winner-take-all showdown against Thailand for the Chicken Dinner, but the Thais capitalized on superior high-ground positioning to win the decisive 4-on-4 battle.
Despite finishing second in the final match, SIBOL ended the qualifiers in seventh place, one spot shy of the top six, with the final berth decided by the tiebreak.
Still, Dosdado took pride in the team's effort.
"Overall, the team performed competitively and showed that SIBOL can contend with some of the strongest teams in the region. We had moments where we executed our game plan well, demonstrated good teamwork, and consistently put ourselves in contention."