Sibol’s IESF roster primed for redemption bid in Asian Qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — The country's national esports team Sibol is ready to return to the International Esports Federation's (IESF) World Esports Championship, this time hoping to regain the gold medal and once again be the top national esports squad.

Sibol’s IESF campaign for this year is defined by one word: redemption.

"Grateful po kami kasi nakapasok po kami sa national team. And siguro this time po ito po yung redemption namin sa ibang region na bakabawi po international,” said Mobile Legends player, Mery "Meraaay" Vivero.

During Sibol's 2023 run, the team went home with a gold and a silver medal for Mobile Legends and Tekken, respectively, earning the Philippines the title of grand champion of that year's World Esports Championship.

The year 2024, however, saw the defending champion in Mobile Legends dethroned by Malaysia, while the female roster failed to qualify for the main event, falling during the Southeast Asian qualifiers. The Dota2 roster managed to reach the playoffs, going farther than its 2023 run, only to be stunned by Greece in the quarterfinals.

With more preparation, Sibol is confident that this year's IESF will see all three rosters on the podium.

"Lagi akong accurate sa mga forecast ko. Out of the three games, I can really say for this year, we got three medals out of the three. For yung placement, I'll leave it to our athletes. Pero siyempre in terms of yung sa pagtingin natin, high chance naman kasi talaga tayo. Since two of the games that we're participating in, we're literally top one or top two sa buong mundo. So in contention na talaga tayo for the gold medal. For DOTA, actually consistent rin tayo. So it's really looking good for this year's IESF,” said SIBOL's overall head coach Ralph Andrei "Leathergoods" Llabres.

The online Asian Qualifiers for the World Esports Championship is slated at the end of August for the Dota2 and Men's Mobile Legends events, while the Women's Mobile Legends tournament is scheduled for the first week of September.

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