High hopes for esports gold as six Sibol teams qualify for Asian Games
At A Glance
- The Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) is thrilled to have six Sibol national teams qualify for the quadrennial meet despite the challenges the federation had to hurdle along the way.
More teams, more chances of winning in the 20th Asian Games.
The Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) is thrilled to have six Sibol national teams qualify for the quadrennial meet despite the challenges the federation had to hurdle along the way.
PESO executive director Marlon Marcelo hailed the program’s successful campaigns after the Filipino representatives qualified in six esports titles, namely Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Honor of Kings, Naraka: Bladepoint, Puyo Puyo Champions, Pokémon UNITE, and Identity V.
The only team that failed to qualify in the continental showpiece was the PUBG Mobile team which missed out on the Asiad spot after losing to Jordan via tiebreaker.
"Within expectations naman. We wanted all seven disciplines to qualify, but unfortunately we fell short in PUBG Mobile by a very slim margin of just one point. The job's not finished but I want to commend our SIBOL national team executives," said Marcelo.
The final weekend of qualifiers saw SIBOL's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Honor of Kings squads book their places in Nagoya through tournaments in Singapore and Malaysia, respectively, while the PUBG Mobile team battled in Vietnam and came within a point of extending the Philippines' qualification run.
With the qualification phase complete, Marcelo said SIBOL now shifts its full attention toward preparations for the Asian Games, where the federation hopes to translate its successful campaign into podium finishes.
"We're looking forward to at least a medal or two in the Asian Games, to be honest. Yung isa, alam na nating lahat. So we're preparing dun sa isa pang hopeful game categories natin,” said Marcelo
“Siyempre, we wanted na kung kaya anim na medals out of the six. But we also have to have a realistic expectation. I hope na I be proven wrong. Kung sakali, edi anim na medals edi ang saya nun para sa atin,” he concluded.