Hopes high for Philippines' Honor of Kings, Women's Mobile Legends teams

MANILA, Philippines – The country's national esports team, Sibol, had expected tough challenge in the recent China-ASEAN Esports Competition last September, wherein the team competed in Honor of Kings and Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB).

It was the very first Honor of Kings team for Sibol, featuring players from the country's top Honor of Kings team, BOOM Esports and Execration; while the MLBB event saw Sibol's Womens' team compete in an open tournament, going up against some all-male, all-female and mixed squads.

Sibol’s Honor of Kings team had an impressive start in the group stage, dispatching Thailand and Brunei, before losing to eventual champion and host squad China. In the semis, the squad suffered a heartbreaking sweep against another top region, Malaysia, to drop to the bronze medal match against Indonesia.

After a hard-fought three-game series that had lengthy delays due to technical issues, Sibol emerged victorious for its very first Honor of Kings medal.

“The future is bright for our Sibil Honor of Kings team after securing the bronze. We are moving in the right direction as we aim for success in yet another game title,” said Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) executive director Marlon Marcelo.

The result, however, was the opposite for the Womens' MLBB team, which exited early after back-to-back losses against Cambodia and China, which both fielded an all-male team.

"This is a learning experience [four our MLBB team] on how to approach an open-category tournament and the nuances associated with it,” said Marcelo, noting how the experience was a valuable one for the all-female team.

Sibol still has a couple of tournaments lined up with the Global Esports Games and the World Esports Championship hosted by the International Esports Federation in the last quarter of the year.