Sibol Women’s MLBB team settled for a silver medal after squandering two match points in the grand finals against Indonesia , 3-2, in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia on Thursday.
They swept Malaysia in the semi-finals, 2-0, but failed to avenge their group stage loss to Indonesia in the gold medal match. It was still a successful campaign for the Filipinas as they also had to overcome difficulties during their tournament preparations upon arrival in Cambodia.
Fresh off their group stage matches on Wednesday where they finished second behind Indonesia, Sibol head coach Abraham Unida revealed in the post-match interview that they had a hard time setting up their regular scrimmage games.
“Actually kase kaya nahirapan kami mag-scrim, maaga kase kaming dumating dito sa Cambodia. And pagdating namin dito walang training facility para mag-scrim. Then yung net namin sa hotel is hindi siya pang-scrimmage,” he said.
They arrived on May 6, four days before the tournament proper but couldn’t find the needed facility for the scrimmages they badly needed. Luckily, the Filipino Women’s MLBB team got a huge boost from Sibol Executive Director Marlon Marcelo as they opted to go for ranked games in lieu of the more competitive scrimmages.
“Dahil gusto namin makapag-practice, gumawa kami ng paraan with the help of Sibol, especially boss Marlon Marcelo na…hinelp kami para maka-provide kami ng financial [aid] para makapaglaro kami doon sa Starbucks,” recalled Unida.
In the grand finals, Sibol dropped the opener but Mery Christine Vivero’s (Natalia) perkiness proved vital as her two off-cam pick-offs helped the Philippines secure the 14th and 17th-minute lords to equalize, 1-1.
The Filipinas continued to pressure Indonesia in Game 3 with Kaye Maerylle Alpuerto (Martis) leading the way, highlighted by an 11th-minute triple kill as they flexed their might against the Indonesians. She finished with a perfect 9-0-4 KDA to spearhead Sibol’s 15-2 annihilation on the kill score and reach match point, 2-1.
With the series going into the rubber match, Sibol took the lead in the mid-game with Viviero (Grock) taking a double kill in the 4th minute but Indonesia managed to secure the next two lords and complete the comeback win.
Also winning the silver medal for the Sibol MLBB Women’s team are midlaner Rica Fatima Amores, goldlaner Sheen Perez, exp laner Gwen Diagon and reserve Alexandra Dardo.
