The national Esports squad settled for a silver medal following a tough loss to Indonesia in the grand finals of the IESF World Esports Championship over the weekend at the Merusaka Nusa Dua in Bali, Indonesia.
Bannered by two of the country’s top Mobile Legends players in Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna and Danerie James “Wise” del Rosario, Sibol was sent crashing to the lower bracket after suffering a painful defeat at the hands of the Indonesians in the opening match of the Playoffs.
Sibol, which was composed of the core of three-time Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines champion Blacklist International, looked unstoppable in the lower bracket as it trampled Slovenia, Argentina, Malaysia and Cambodia without dropping a single game.
Its rampage in the lower bracket sparked hopes that the squad that also has Kiel Calvin “OHEB” Soriano, Edward Jay “EDWARD” Dapadap and Salic “Hadji” Imam can go all the way and knock down the home team in the grand finals.
But it didn’t happen as the Indonesians proved to be too strong, too dominant in booking a masterful 3-0 victory.
Still, Sibol’s effort was handsomely rewarded when they took home $30,000, or around P1.6 million, while the Indonesians bagged half of the $100,000 total prize pool.
On the same note, Sibol’s DOTA 2 squad suffered the same fate as it bowed to the Indonesians in the grand finals, 2-3.
Unlike in Mobile Legends, however, the DOTA squad booked a grand finals ticket by beating Kazakhstan, 2-0, Indonesia, 2-1 and Laos, 2-1.
The grand finals was such a tense battle as it went back and forth before the Indonesians waxed hot, winning a couple of games to rack up wins in just 31 and 42 minutes, respectively.
For its effort, Sibol’s DOTA 2 squad took home $30,000.
