YOKKAICHI, Japan — Sibol star Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno could not hide his frustration after the Philippines suffered a shocking 1-2 quarterfinal loss to rival Indonesia in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Wednesday.
The Philippines entered the tournament as one of the gold medal favorites and lived up to the billing in the group stage, sweeping Jordan and Kazakhstan to top Group C.
However, that strong start unraveled in the quarterfinals, as Sibol suffered a stunning loss to Indonesia, bringing its medal hopes crashing down.
“Di ko rin alam ba’t kami natalo dun. ’Di ko ine-expect na matatalo kami,” said KarlTzy, who struggled to make an impact on Nolan in Game 3. Indonesia repeatedly invaded his jungle and disrupted his early farm, leaving him with little room to build momentum.
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His struggles reflected Sibol’s overall woes in the series, with the Philippines playing from behind in all three games after losing the early-game battle each time.
Indonesia’s hyper-aggressive approach repeatedly disrupted Sibol’s game plan, denying the Filipinos the clean starts and early momentum they had enjoyed in the group stage against Jordan and Kazakhstan.
“Feeling ko sobrang dami naming errors, and tingin ko hindi namin alam ‘yung laro talaga namin. Pero ayun, mas maganda ‘yung nilaro nila,” said the 22-year-old jungler.
“Sobrang daming errors lang talaga ng team and maganda ‘yung hero picks nila. Sa learnings po, ‘di ko alam, parang wala akong natutunan eh. Parang napakawalang kuwentang run nito para sa akin, kasi alam na alam namin na lamang kami sa lahat. Pero ewan ko paano kami natatalo.”
Still stunned by the unexpected defeat, KarlTzy admitted that he does not know what comes next for Sibol after its Asian Games campaign ended far earlier than expected.
But if there is one thing he is certain of, it is that the team will bounce back.
“Ngayon, ‘di ko pa alam eh. ‘Di ko pa talaga alam ‘yung gagawin ko, medyo nakakawalang gana ‘yung run namin na ‘to and ano, ayoko munang magsalita,” said the Team Liquid PH star.
“Bawi na lang ulit, lagi namang ganun.”
