HANOI – Another gold is within reach of Team Philippines-Sibol as it barged into the finals of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang men’s division, following a 2-1 semifinal victory over Singapore in the 31st Southeast Asian Games at Vietnam National Convention Center.
Sibol, represented by M3 World Champion Blacklist in the Mobile Legends-Bang Bang category, is one of the PH teams favored in the esports competition.
“We are strongest here in Mobile Legends, Wild Rift and Cross Fire,” said head coach Ralph Andrei Llabres, whose prediction of a gold-medal finish in the Wild Rift already came true late Wednesday night, courtesy of all-female team Sibol-Grindsky Eris.
Salic Alauya “Hadji” Imam showed the way with his mage character Cecilion in the final game with the Singaporeans for an 18-11 win in Game 3.Imam ended with six kills and 10 assists, after respawning only once to put Sibol in the gold-medal match on Friday against the winner between Indonesia and Malaysia.
The 19-year-old Imam, turned the tables on Singapore in midgame, when he prevented gold laner Adam “Adammir” Chong from immortalizing his marksman hero Clint.
A well-timed use of the Sanguine Claws spell at a specific area in the bottom lane kept Chong from achieving his goal.
Sanguine Claws deals at least 200 points in damages, and immobilizes an opponent for a second.After this, Singapore committed forced errors in the remainder of their encounter, allowing Sibol to strut to the finals.
Sibol made it to the semifinals against Singapore after sweeping its three assignments in Group A.
Malaysia, which finished second, got Indonesia as its semis rival after the latter emerged unbeaten against their two rivals in Group B.
The Philippines won three golds, a silver and a bronze during esports’ debut into the SEA Games’ calendar in the 2019 edition.