Sibol taps three coaches for Mobile Legends event in Asian Games

Sibol’s Mobile Legends coaching staff members for the upcoming Asian Games: (From left) Michael “Arcadia” Bocado, Francis “Ducky” Glindro and Denver “Yeb” Miranda.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

MANILA, Philippines — The country's national esports team Sibol is going all out in the upcoming Asian Games, tapping three coaches for the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) event — Francis "Ducky" Glindro, Denver "Yeb" Miranda and Michael "Arcadia" Bocado.

Since becoming a medal event in the Southeast Asian Games, Sibol has won four consecutive gold medals in the men’s category, while it was a back-to-back silver medalist in the women's category.

With the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, MLBB will be making its debut in the continental multi-sport event, and Sibol hopes to continue its gold streak in the esports title.

Francis "Ducky" Glindro has previously coached Sibol before during the team's "Taon ng Tagumpay" 2023 run, winning the gold medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, as well as a gold in the 15th World Esports Championship by the International Esports Federation in Ia?i, Romania. In the professional scene, Glindro has two world championships under his belt as the head coach of Bren Esports during the M2 World Championship and then later AP.BREN in the M5 World Championships.

Joining Glindro are Miranda and Bocado, Filipinos who have brought their coaching talents to top MLBB regions Indonesia and Malaysia.

Miranda had been part of the first few Filipino imports to explore MLBB opportunities outside the country back in 2022, when he joined Indonesia's ONIC Esports. Since then, he has transitioned from the team's analyst to its head coach, winning multiple Indonesian league trophies as well as an MLBB Mid Season Cup (then the Southeast Asia Cup) back in 2023.

Bocado, for his part, had been a rival of Miranda in Indonesia when he became the analyst and coach of RRQ Hoshi before bringing his talents to Malaysia as the head coach of Selangor Red Giants (SRG). In Malaysia, Bocado won multiple Malaysian league trophies, earning back-to-back titles for SRG, as well as an MLBB Mid Season Cup back in 2024.

Esports was elevated as a medal event in the 2022 edition of the Games in Hangzhou, China. Sibol had participated in six events during that edition of the Asian Games: EA FIFA Online, Arena of Valor, Street Fighter V, PUBG Mobile, Dream Three Kingdoms and Dota2. However, the team was eliminated in the early rounds.

For the upcoming Games, Sibol has identified seven events that they target to qualify in addition to MLBB — Naraka: Bladepoint, Identity V, Puyo Puyo Champions, Honor of Kings, Pokémon Unite and PUBG Mobile (Asian Games version).