Sibol books Asian Games berths in Mobile Legends, Honor of Kings

MANILA, Philippines, June 23 ------ The Philippines added two more titles to its growing esports contingent for the 2026 Asian Games after its national esports team, Sibol, successfully qualified in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Honor of Kings during separate regional qualifiers held across Southeast Asia.

The results came after a busy stretch for the national esports program, with the Honor of Kings squad seeing action in Malaysia; the MLBB team competing in Singapore; and the PUBG Mobile roster battling in Vietnam for spots in the continental meet set for Aichi-Nagoya later this year.

Opening the second half of qualifier campaigns for the team, the Honor of Kings squad — composed of Chammy "Chammy1" Nazarrea, Justine "Juschie" Tan, Dragon "Dragon" Dajao, Golden "Goldenk1te" Dajao, Charles "Chazz" Esguerra and Jhon "Xyliath" Tungol, with head coach Gerald "Tgee" Gelacio — saw back-to-back 2-0 victories over Pakistan and Mongolia. It then officially punched its ticket to Nagoya with another sweep, this time against Uzbekistan. A final-day loss to regional rival Indonesia relegated Sibol to second place in the group, but qualification had already been secured. “Actually, sobrang saya namin kasi pasok na tayo sa main event. Isang karangalan para sa amin ang ma-represent ang Pilipinas sa Asian Games,” Gelacio said following the team's qualification.

While Sibol’s Honor of Kings team breezed through its bracket, the road proved more challenging for its Mobile Legends: Bang Bang squad in Singapore. Head coach Allec “SN4P” Alvarado, analyst Kim “Daiki” Sebanes, and support coaches Francis “Ducky” Glindro, Michael “Arcadia” Bocado and Denver “Yeb” Miranda guided a roster featuring Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno, Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya, Alston "Sanji" Pabico, Jaypee "Jaypee" Dela Cruz, Dave “Teddyqt” Viana Jr. and Duane “Kelra” Pillas through a competitive Southeast Asian field.

The Filipinos opened with a sweep of Malaysia before defeating Laos to improve to 2-0. Their momentum was briefly halted by Cambodia, which handed Sibol its lone defeat of the tournament and dropped the Philippines down the standings. But the Filipinos quickly recovered, sweeping Myanmar and outlasting Vietnam in a three-game series, and capped off their qualification run with a statement victory over Indonesia. The squad later closed the tournament with a sweep of host nation Singapore to finish with a 6-1 record, taking the lead and officially securing its place at the Asian Games. “Malaking bagay sa amin na hindi pa rin sanay ang mga teams sa meta ngayon dahil sa bagong update. Masaya ako na nakapasok kami sa Asian Games at nasweep namin yung Indonesia,” Alvarado said.

Source: philstar.com