Sibol tops Pokemon Unite group to catch Asiad quarters berth
MANILA, Philippines — The country's national esports team, Sibol, bounced back from an opening-match disqualification in the Pokemon Unite event at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 to top Pool A on Saturday and advance to the quarterfinals.
Sibol entered the second day of the competition needing to recover from an unusual start to its campaign after both the Philippines and Kazakhstan were disqualified from their scheduled opening match Friday due to uniform violations.
The Filipinos responded with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei before repeating the result against Malaysia to secure their place in the knockout stage.
Chinese Taipei could still match the Philippines’ 2-1 record with a victory over Kazakhstan, but Sibol holds the tiebreaker after winning their head-to-head encounter.
“Unfortunately, ‘yun nga, ‘yung nangyari kahapon. Pero binawi namin. We are really confident with our bracket for this Asian Games, but we didn’t underestimate our opponents,” said Sibol Pokemon Unite head coach Albert Camp.
Sibol will face the winner of the final selection phase between Hong Kong and India in the quarterfinals on Sunday as it looks to move within a win of a medal.
“Heading into the knockout stage, we are really prepared kung sino ‘man ang makakatapat namin sa quarterfinals. We will still practice and tuloy pa rin kami kung ano ‘yung ginagawa namin para malagpasan namin ang quarterfinals,” added Camp.
Meanwhile, Sibol's Puyo Puyo Champions representative Karl Gonzalvo ended his quest for a medal after falling to Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitikun, 2-5, in the quarterfinals.
Sibol's Asian Games campaign continues Sunday, September 26, with the Pokemon Unite quarterfinals, while the team also begins its group-stage campaign in Honor of Kings.
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