Sibol boosts SEA Games legacy, commits to next year’s Asian Games

MANILA, Philippines — Sibol wrapped up its 33rd Southeast Asian Games campaign with another strong showing, bagging its fourth consecutive gold in the Men’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) event and a back-to-back silver in the Women’s division.

With the two medals, the Philippines remains on top of the overall esports medal tally with eight golds, five silver and four bronze medals, bringing its total medal count in esports to 17.

“Generally, the results were better than we expected. Coming into this, I think we had realistic expectations. To be honest, I think we're really getting good at predicting the results of the teams that we are fielding. That also means that we have a better understanding of what we can improve on, what more we can prepare, and, of course, what more we can sustain so we can continue improving the results,” said Sibol general manager Leo “Jab” Escutin.

Since esports debuted in the SEA Games, the Philippines has dominated the men’s MLBB division. Jungler Karl Nepomuceno, part of the historic 2019 roster, clinched his second gold as Sibol swept Malaysia, 4-0, in the men’s gold medal match, the team's fourth consecutive gold medal in the biennial multi-sport event.

The women’s MLBB division, introduced last year in Cambodia, saw Sibol avenge its 2023 loss to Indonesia in the semifinals. However, the squad fell short in the finals against Malaysia, bowing 3-4 in a nail-biting series.

Beyond MLBB, Sibol competed in Arena of Valor’s men’s division, finishing behind Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. In the Magic Chess: Go Go demonstration event, Sibol finished second.

"I still consider [Sibol’s SEA Games run] a success, specifically because we defended our MLBB gold medal. We'll develop more strategies. We already have initial strategies on how to improve our performance, especially in [the] women's [division]. Look forward to our domination as we move forward to the next campaign, which is the most important one, the Asian Games," said Marlon Marcelo, executive director of the Philippine Esports Organization.

Esports will remain a medal event in the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, continuing its inclusion from Hangzhou 2022. Sibol hopes to qualify in seven events: Honor of Kings, Naraka: Bladepoint, Puyo Puyo Champions, Identity V, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Pokémon Unite and PUBG Mobile (Asian Games version).

“Next year is a really important year for us because it's going to be our Asian Games run. We are preparing something very, very different. I think the fans can expect a different kind of Sibol in terms of the strength that the team will bring to the Asian Games,” Escutin added.