Sibol’s Men’s MLBB team found themselves on the upset axe on Friday but had to save two match points in the semi-finals on Saturday to keep their three-peat hopes alive in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
They suffered a surprising loss to Malaysia in the group stage and were trailing 1-0 against Myanmar in the semi-finals before playing with pinpoint accuracy for a 3-2 reverse sweep to reach the grand finals.
In Game 1, Sibol erased an early 6k net worth deficit after winning a 5-1 exchange during a lengthy skirmish in the 9th minute.
However, Myanmar continued to press on with Min “Naomi” Ko’s (Natalia) pesky backline attacks, which proved difficult for Sibol to overcome as they conceded the opener by the 22nd minute.
But Sibol was not to be outdone as they controlled Game 2 from the beginning, leading by as much as 10k in net worth. However, the Burmese squad caught Marco Requitiano (Karrie) in the midlane, scoring a pick-off, securing the evolved lord, and equalizing the game.
Sibol found themselves in dangerous waters after Myanmar took a 4k gold lead and secured most of the early game objectives. However, David Cannon (Yu Zhong) executed a pinpoint petrify play during the 13th-minute lord dance that helped Angelo Arcangel (Kadita) score a triple kill, followed by a one-way push on the middle lane to complete the reverse sweep.
Sibol held on with Rowgien Unigo’s (Khufra) excellent set-up play, which sparked a 2-1 trade-off and secured the lord. They used the lord to successfully siege the base turret in the 25th minute.
During the group stages, Sibol was handed the upset axe after succumbing to Malaysia, despite dominating the early to mid-game.
However, the Filipinos quickly regained their bearings and swept their next two matches against Vietnam and Timor Leste to secure their spot in the semi-finals.