The Philippines is enjoying a fruitful year at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. At the time of this writing, the country has 114 gold medals, breaking its former record of 112 gold medals from the 2005 event. Among the current accolades, however, one victory stands out — the Mobile Legends crown.
In a classic underdog tale, the Philippine team, Sibol Mobile Legends, defeated the Indonesian team by a narrow 3-2 victory.
Coached by Changrok Im, the Philippine team is composed of Kenneth Jiane “Kenji” Villa, Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, Carlito “Ribo” Ribo, Jeniel “Haze” Bata-anon, Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel, Allan Sancio “Lusty” Castromayor, and Jason Rafael “Jay” Torculas. On the other side, the Indonesia team is filled by medaled champions from Southeast Asian and global tournaments — a veritable dream team.
Of note, the Philippines ended up in a lower bracket in the preliminary group stages, finishing only second to rivalling Indonesia in Group B.
The best-of-five match-up started with an emphatic win from Sibol, headlined by a flank play from Villa. From the onset, Sibol had the momentum going forward.
However, the next two games belonged to Indonesia, including an emphatic game 2 win and a comeback game 3 nail-biter. The rivaling team seemingly regained its champion form.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Sibol blew the game wide open, stealing a crucial game 4 to setup a decider in game 5. In that fourth outing, Indonesia surprisingly allowed the Philippine team to run Esmeralda, Nepomuceno’s ace hero. Naturally, Nepomuceno wreaked havoc, taking kill after kill.
After failing to complete the beating, Indonesia collapsed in the fifth and final frame, granting the Philippines the dominant win and the first esports medal for the country in the 2019 SEA Games.
SEE ALSO: EVOS Legends wins first ever Mobile Legends World Championship