Sibol women's squad comes up short in IESF qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — It's another miss for the country's national esports team as the Sibol Women's team for Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) finished third in the Southeast Asia qualifiers for the 2025 World Esports Championship, organized by the International Esports Federation (IESF).

Held online beginning September 1, Sibol had a great group stages run, seeing a perfect 3-0 standing and dropping only one game against Myanmar.

But similar to the Men's team as well as the Dota2 team, come playoffs, the squad suffered a crucial defeat.

In the semifinals, Sibol absorbed a 0-2 sweep against Cambodia, the same team that derailed the Filipinas’ IESF's hopes last year.

Relegated to the third place matchup which was a best-of-one, Sibol managed to end the tournament on a high-note, defeating Thailand, 1-0.

It is the third straight IESF qualifier wherein Sibol fell in the first round of the playoffs. Sibol's Dota2 lost to Indonesia, 1-2, while the Men's MLBB team also suffered a 0-2 setback against Cambodia in the men's qualifiers.

With the IESF yet to release the final slot allocations for the main event of the World Esports Championship, the low placing in the qualifiers gives Sibol a slim chance of proceeding to the next round.

Sibol hopes to regroup and prepare for their next esports campaign — the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December.