IF LAST YEAR's Southeast Asian Games saw Setsuna "Akosi Dogie" Ignacio play with percentage numbers and claim that Blacklist International/Sibol had a 10% chance of beating Indonesia, this year saw Sibol head coach Ralph Andrei "Leathergoods" Llabres make a strong prediction on the Philippines' esports bid.
Given the accolades that Sibol attained last year, which included two gold medals and two silver medals in the SEA Games held in Hanoi, Coach Leathergoods, boldly predicted an extremely high probability for the Philippines to garner medals.
“Our athletes have evolved through the years, most definitely yung game sense natin, yung athletes natin in esports, mas lumalakas tayo and I’m really expecting better results this year. Last year we hit our 70% na makakakuha ng medal," started Coach Leathergoods.
He added: "I think for this year I’ll be bold in saying around 80-90% na makakakuha tayo ng medals."
The two gold medals that the Philippines attained in last year's SEA Games came from Wild Rift and Mobile Legends, and this could once again repeat as hinted by the former Bren Esports MLBB coach.
"Most specifically we’re already expecting two golds from Wild Rift and Mobile Legends."
A more focused vision
Given his statement, PeSO Executive Director Marlon "Lon" Marcelo responded to his claims jokingly saying: “Just to add, terrible statement from our coach (laughs). No pressure!"
Then he carried on by explaining that the host country's selection of games have varied. Back in 2019 when the Philippines was the host, games like Hearthstone, StarCraft 2, and Tekken 7 were featured. In 2021, PUBG: Mobile, FIFA Online, and Wild Rift were introduced.
Now in the 2023 SEA Games, VALORANT will officially make its debut.
"It’s different because some of the games, we have to cater to because as you all know, the different host country actually decides what kind of games we will be fielding for this campaign."
And to add to the National team's preparations, addressing some of the usual issues that have plagued esports athletes were already addressed.
"But for us it’s getting the best, it’s getting them ready, again all of the backend issues we already finished doing it, so passports, papers, uniforms, everything has already been done, so that the athletes can actually just focus to dominate and securing the medal," said Marcelo.
This year, the Philippine Esports Organization (PeSO) and Sibol will have a stacked schedule as they will compete in the upcoming SEA Games held in Cambodia, alongside other multisport events like the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, increasing the opportunities for the National Team to attain the desired gold medal finish.
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