Sibol gets early boot in Dota 2 IESF regional qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — The country's national esports team Sibol began its campaign in the upcoming 2025 World Esports Championship (WEC) organized by the International Esports Federation (IESF) with an early exit in the South and Southeast Asia regional qualifiers for Dota 2.

Competing against 11 other teams, Sibol suffered a defeat in its opening match against Malaysia in Group B but managed to sweep its remaining games versus Nepal, Thailand and Bhutan, while Pakistan forfeited their matches.

Finishing second in Group B, Sibol was pitted in the quarterfinals against Indonesia, Group A's third seed.

Indonesia took the first game in the best-of-three series, but Sibol managed to keep its composure and survive a 52-minute, 18-second game to tie the series, only for Indonesia to hand the Philippine squad a swift elimination after a 31-minute Game 3.

The loss meant a fifth- to sixth-place finish for Sibol. Though IESF has yet to announce how many teams qualify to the main event of Dota 2 in the coming 2025 WEC, historically, it is usually just the regional champion or the top two teams that advance to the main event.

With Doat2 done, Sibol hopes to still qualify for this year's WEC in the male and female events of Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB). The men's regional qualifiers will begin on Sunday, August 24, while the women's qualifiers will be staged on September 1.