Sibol settles for SEA Games silver in CrossFire, League of Legends

MANILA, Philippines — Sibol ended its 31st Southeast Asian campaign with a total of four medals after bets in CrossFire and League of Legend settled for silver against their counterparts from host country Vietnam.

Sibol's CrossFire team — composed of Pacific Macta's Arthur "King" Tecson, Aldrin "Aldrin" Borabon, Matthew "EL1" Arnaez, John Kenneth "zYK" Alde, Dennis "AZ" Ramos Jr and Christian "Revenge" Amores — opened the day in the lower bracket final against Indonesia with a dominant 10-2 win in Game One, followed by a perfect 10-0 run in Game 2wo. 

Game Three saw a different Indonesian team that traded round wins with Sibol. But the latter eventually prevailed, advancing to the gold medal clash — a rematch with Vietnam. Unfortunately, the host team was just too quick on the trigger, and Sibol found themselves outgunned, 0-3. The team settled for silver, giving the Philippines' its third medal in esports.

On the other side of the Vietnam National Convention Center, Sibol was also facing Vietnam in the finals of the League of Legends event. But like their compatriots, it was a dominant sweep on the side of the host country, 0-3, with Sibol not even getting more than 10 kills in any of three games. Vietnam, in contrast, averaged 23 kills.

The team — made up of Van Matthew "Vansu" Alfonso, David Emmanuel "YJY" Tapang, Hezro Elijah "ParzivaI" Canlas, Andre Dominique "Calumnia" Soriano, Jan Edward "Cresho" Hortizuela, Jan Raphael "RVL8" Retance and Matthew Aeiden "Aeiden" Rogando — added another silver to the country's medal tally and Sibol’s fourth medal overall in Hanoi.

The last esports event of the Games was the final five maps of the team tournament of PUBG Mobile, with both Philippine teams eyeing podium finishes.

Map11 saw PH1 — made up of Abdul "Monboy" Barode, Kharl Andrei "Damaso" De Guzman, Raymund Arbie "H2R" Basilio, Ronal Aljheron "Demigod" Ginez and John Raymart "Rankid" Rocello, score their third Chicken Dinner of the tournament to bring them up to fifth place while PH2's John Michael "Shazaaam" Atenza, Francis "Range" Fusingan, Ans Clarth "Newbie" Rago, Mayrose "Miss Monako" Balatan, Reimon "Rymon" Casido, and Reyniel "Opti" Eustaquio — try to keep tight hold of their second-place.

But it all came crashing down as the rest of the maps saw both Philippine teams eliminated early with just a handful of elimination points to drop out of medal contention. PH1, even after winning three Chicken Dinners, ended the tournament at ninth place. PH2, for its part, fought valiantly in the last map, managing to survive and earn six eliminations but it was only enough for a fifth place finish.

Sibol failed to match their 2019 run wherein they won five medals — three of which were golds — and a silver and a bronze each. But the Philippines’ esports squad defended its crown in Mobile Legends: Bang, one of only two events to feature once more from the previous Games (the other being Arena of Valor).