Sibol sweeps SEA Games MLBB group stages

MANILA, Philippines — Sibol's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) team started their title defense bid in high spirits as they emerged unbeaten in the group stages at the Vietnam National Convention Center late Wednesday.

The best-of-two matches for the group stages had three points on the line for a win and a point for a draw with only the top two teams advancing to the semifinals.

Sibol, represented by Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario, Jonmar “OhmyV33nus” Villaluna and Salic “Hadji” Imam, Dominic “Dominic” Soto and Howard “Owl” Gonzales, ended the group stage with a total of nine points from their three 2-0 sweeps and will face the No. 2 seed of Group B in the semifinals.

The Filipino gamers first hurdled Malaysia — considered as the other strong team besides the Philippines — in Group A.

When things turned to favor the Malaysian squad, the discipline and patience from the side of Sibol helped them to stick it out until the 20th minute of Game One, which saw a Lord fight win turning the tide for the Philippines and eventually taking the base, with a tied kill count 21-21.

Game Two saw a more aggressive Team Malaysia, with the Philippines once again trailing behind, even on the verge of defeat but Rosario managed to defend the base against four Malaysian heroes to keep Sibol alive.

They managed to come back with a wipeout to eventually end the 26-minute match, 22-27.

Their next match-up was against Team Laos, which already suffered a 0-2 defeat against Mynamar.

Sibol was left trailing most of the game due to Laos' aggressive play, but a team fight by the Luminous Lord saw Sibol take down four of Laos' heroes, thanks to Imam's 93% Kill Participation, to take needed objectives and eventually the game 14-11.

A more dominant Sibol team came out in Game Two, taking a 10-0 lead in just under 11 minutes and not letting Team Laos recover.

They eventually ended the 15-minute match with a score of 19-2.

Sibol's last match of the group stages was against team Myanmar, and they wasted no time in securing another point with a 14-4 win in just 14 minutes and four seconds with Del Rosario leading the way as he secured objectives and finished the match without a single death.

Though game two saw a scare as Mynamar pulled off a kill lead of 13-2 by the 12th minute.

But a lord take in the 19th minute by Sibol turned the tied, ending the 24-minute match with a 7-15 kill score.

Sibol faces a semis opponent that will be decided by a tie-break later today between Singapore and host nation Vietnam, which ended Group B with one point each.