SIBOL MLBB's hunt for an Asian Games gold was met with a premature end after getting booted by regional rival Indonesia, 2-1, in the Asian Games Mobile Legends: Bang Bang quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Aichi Sky Expo.
After ruling the region with four consecutive gold medals in the Southeast Asian games, the Philippines' SEA neighbor finally got one over the country and it came in the most timely way possible — in the Asiad's inaugural MLBB tournament.
SIBOL stumbled in the opening game as Indonesia drew first blood through Affan Wahyudi’s Hirara, but the Philippines answered by taking the first Turtle and later building a 9-8 lead at the 6:30 mark.
The game remained tight until Indonesia secured the first Lord at the 10-minute mark, picking up two kills and destroying SIBOL’s mid turret to take control.
Indonesia never lost the advantage from there, taking two more Lords before Wahyudi’s double kill and Dalvin Putra’s takedown of Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno sealed the 22-18 win.
Nepomuceno led SIBOL with 10 kills, four deaths, and two assists, while Dave “Teddyqt” Viana posted a 2-2-10 KDA.
Wahyudi finished with a 6-3-9 line for Indonesia, with D. Putra adding eight kills, four deaths, and 12 assists.
SIBOL quickly bounced back in Game 2, overcoming an early gold and 3-0 kill count deficit to dominate Indonesia, 14-5, in just 12 minutes.
Indonesia raced to a 2,000-gold lead after Wahyudi’s Nolan picked off Alston “Sanji” Pabico’s Zhu Xin and Nepomuceno’s Soyou before D. Putra’s Kimmy took down Viana’s Bruno.
Nepomuceno then sparked SIBOL’s response by securing the first Turtle at three minutes, followed by a 3-0 kill run that put the Philippines back ahead in gold by the five-minute mark.
SIBOL continued to control the map, taking two turrets and the third Turtle before Nepomocueno secured the first Lord and helped eliminate two Indonesian heroes.
The Philippines then closed out the game with a 4-0 kill exchange, with Nepomuceno's Soyou scoring a double kill to force a deciding Game 3.
Nepomuceno finished with a 5-1-5 KDA, while Pabico contributed 13 assists without a kill or death.
But Indonesia seized control early in the deciding Game 3, with Wahyudi’s Hirara drawing first blood and securing the first two Turtles to give the Indonesians a 2-0 kill lead and 2,000-gold advantage by the fourth minute.
This time, Indonesia wasn't about to let go of the lead.
Wahyudi continued to invade SIBOL’s jungle as Indonesia stretched its lead to 3,000 gold by six minutes, before a 4-0 exchange capped by Syauki Sumarno’s double kill pushed the advantage to 7,000 gold.
SIBOL managed to defend Indonesia’s second Lord push at 14 minutes, but still trailed by 8,000 gold.
Indonesia secured the third Lord two minutes later, with Owen Buhe’s Badang setting up the final clash before Sumarno’s Lukas scored a double kill to wipe out SIBOL and seal the 12-6 victory.
Sumarno finished with six kills and no deaths, while Hirara added five kills, two deaths, and six assists.
Viana led SIBOL with three kills, while Nepomuceno was held to a 0-2-4 line.
The loss ended SIBOL’s Asian Games campaign, while Indonesia advanced to the semifinals against Mongolia.
SIBOL MLBB's elimination is a big blow to the country's target gold medal haul of eight, with the squad being one of the favorites for gold after ruling their region since MLBB was first introduced in the SEA Games back in 2019.
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