Sibol assured itself of at least another bronze medal at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 after its Honor of Kings squad swept South Korea, 2-0, in the quarterfinals on Sunday at Aichi Sky Expo.
The Philippines never gave South Korea a chance to settle into the series, controlling both games from start to finish. That secured another medal for the country less than an hour after the Pokémon UNITE squad claimed its own bronze.
Sibol head coach Gerald Gelacio credited the team’s disciplined play for its dominant quarterfinal showing, saying the squad stuck to its game plan and kept its mistakes to a minimum.
“Actually kanina, sobrang smooth sailing lang niya kasi sobrang linis ng laro namin and ‘yun ‘yung prinactice namin. Sobrang less mistake lang ang nagawa namin and mga minimal [errors] na pwede namin maayos pa,” Gelacio said.
The quarterfinal victory set up a daunting semifinal clash for Sibol, which is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee, as it faces China at 10:00 AM on Monday.
It has been a long day for the country’s Honor of Kings squad, which began its campaign in pool play with a sweep of Kazakhstan before nearly pulling off an upset against Malaysia. The result earned the Philippines the second seed in Pool B and a quarterfinal matchup against South Korea.
After going through both pool play and the knockout stage on the same day, Sibol now has little time to recover before facing China, with a spot in the gold-medal match at stake.
The team, which is also backed by Smart, Cignal, TV5, and Arena Social, is composed of Dragon Hart Dajao, Juschie Tan, Chammy Nazarrea, Jhon Mike Tungol, Golden Hart Dajao, and Charles Esguerra.
“Yun ‘yung gagawin namin mamaya pagbalik sa hotel, marami kaming oras ngayon para panoorin ‘yung game and makagawa ng strategy against them kasi, gaya ng sabi ko, powerhouse team siya and hindi namin siya puwedeng maliitin,” Gelacio said.
