Sibol guaranteed of Asiad bronze in Honor of Kings
MANILA, Philippines — The country's national esports team, Sibol, secured the Philippines another esports medal in the 20th Asian Games after sweeping South Korea, 2-0, in the Honor of Kings quarterfinals Sunday at Aichi Sky Expo.
The win assured the Philippines of at least a bronze medal — the country’s second from esports — and it came less than an hour after Sibol's Pokemon Unite squad also reached the podium.
Sibol controlled both games against South Korea to advance to the semifinals, where it will face host China on Monday at 10 a.m. for a place in the gold-medal match.
“Syempre sobrang saya na umabot kami sa podium pero di pa kasi tapos. Job's not done. Goal talaga naming is mag-gold. Gagalingan pa namin,” said the team's jungler, Juschie Tan.
The Philippines had already gone through two matches in the group stage earlier Sunday, sweeping Kazakhstan before falling to Malaysia to finish second in Pool B.
That sent Sibol into a quarterfinal matchup against South Korea, but head coach Gerald Gelacio said the team managed to keep its mistakes to a minimum despite the long day.
“Actually kanina sobrang smooth sailing lang niya kasi sobrang linis ng laro namin and ‘yun ‘yung prinactice namin, sobrang less mistake lang ang nagawa namin and mga minimal [errors] na pwede namin maayos pa,” said Gelacio.
The Filipinos will now have little turnaround time before taking on China — which is among the tournament favorites — with Gelacio saying much of their remaining preparation will be spent studying their semifinal opponent.
“Yun ‘yung gagawin namin mamaya pagbalik ng hotel, marami kaming oras ngayon para panoorin ‘yung game and makagawa ng strategy against them kasi, gaya ng sabi ko, powerhouse team siya and hindi namin siya pwede maliitin,” he added.
Tan, however, said Sibol will try not to get caught up in the occasion as it bids to advance to the final.
“Mindset namin is laruin lang namin yung game namin. Especially against China kasi we know they're the top team. Basta laruin lang namin yung game namin. Wag mahype ng sobra kasi pag nahype kami minsan nagcho-choke,” said Tan.
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