TWO GOLD medals in esports, and more could potentially come.
Sibol’s medal run will have a chance to add to their League of Legends: Wild Rift and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang hardware as they could potentially bag a gold in CrossFire, PUBGM, and League of Legends PC.
In fact, the Philippines is already assured of a bronze medal in the CrossFire event and a silver medal in LoL PC. In PUBGM, only a few rounds remain, and the Philippines is currently in the driver’s seat as Zap Battlegrndz remains in the top three, while KHI Esports still has a fighting chance to reach a podium finish.
And none of these would’ve been possible without their efforts at the tail end of the SEA Games.
Sibol sweeps Indonesia but stumbles against Vietnam in CrossFire
Pacific Macta’s campaign in CrossFire started off with a bang as Sibol easily disposed Indonesia in a 2-0 romp and sent them to the lower bracket.
In Game 1 of the series, the Philippines started strong with a 3-0 lead, and things started to snowball in their favor as the dynamic duo of Christian “Revenge” Amores and Matthew “EL1” Arnaez led the charge en route to their victory.
While they were cruising in Game 1, Game 2 saw a determined Indonesian squad as both teams went neck-and-neck. With the scoreline tied at 8-7, in favor of the Filipinos, it was time for Pacific Macta to go for the final push.
The next two rounds saw the likes of John Kenneth “ZYk” Alde, Dennis “ZDD” Ramos Jr., and Aldrin “Aldrin” Paul Borabon, surprise their foes, leading to their victory and a chance to reach the finals.
Unfortunately those chances diminished as the Philippines encountered a strong resistance from Vietnam in the upper bracket finals. In both games, Le Van “Lucas” Son delivered an inspired performance, which complimented the team’s rotational dissection of their rivals. Sibol’s EL1 tried to fight back, but his efforts were left in vain as Vietnam thwarted the Philippines 2-0, and sent them to the lower bracket.
From there, they will once again face Indonesia and the victor of that matchup will proceed to the gold medal finale against Vietnam.
Zap Battlegrndz keep their top three finish
While the first day saw Sibol’s KHI Esports secure back-to-back chicken dinner wins in PUBGM, giving them the top seed, the second day saw them stumble, placing them at the 7th overall spot.
However, not all is lost for the Filipino hopefuls as fellow Sibol representative Zap Battlegrndz are still at the podium finish as they climbed from their third place finish in Day 1 to a second place finish in Day 2.
Both teams could still grind their way in the remaining five rounds which will happen on the last day of the event.
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