Sibol nails maiden Asian Games esports medal with Pokemon Unite bronze
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SQUAD. The Sibol Pokemon Unite team of Lance David, Robert Mempin, Ducke Leoncio, Kim Rey Salazar, Vaughn Ocio, Lawrence Gatmaitan together with head coach Albert Camp and PESO president Brian Lim.
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The Sibol Pokemon Unite team of Lance David, Ducke Harnold Leoncio, Lawrence Anthony Gatmaitan, Kim Rey Salazar, Robert Jon Mempin, and Michael Vaughn Ocio earn the Philippines' first-ever esports medal in the Asian Games
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines scored a breakthrough esports medal at the Asian Games as Sibol clinched a Pokemon Unite bronze at the Aichi Sky Expo in Japan on Sunday, September 27.
The team of Lance David, Ducke Harnold Leoncio, Lawrence Anthony Gatmaitan, Kim Rey Salazar, Robert Jon Mempin, and Michael Vaughn Ocio still secured a bronze despite a 2-0 loss to Indonesia in the semifinals.
Sibol built a commanding lead in the first game but ran out of steam, surrendering the opener and failing to recover as it fell to a sweep in the best-of-three affair.
Nevertheless, it was still a commendable result as the Philippines won its first-ever esports medal in the Asian Games, which included esports as a demonstration competition in 2018 then adopted it as a medal event in 2023.
“I’m still in awe because this is the first time and I’m really happy for the boys because this is something they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives, that they were able to bring home a medal to the Philippines,” said Sibol head coach Albert Camp.
Sibol topped Group A with 4 points then scored a 2-0 win over Hong Kong in the quarterfinals to assure itself of a podium finish.
Another Sibol squad is guaranteed a medal as the Honor of Kings crew of Golden Hart Dajao, Justine Ritchie Tan, Charles Roman Esguerra, Dragon Hart Dajao, Jhon Mike Tungol, and Chammy Paul Nazarrea advanced to the semifinals following a 2-0 victory over South Korea.
Sibol battles China on Monday, September 28, for a spot in the gold-medal match. – Rappler.com
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