NANNING, CHINA – SIBOL Honor of Kings head coach Christian “Ciiyan” Villegas believes that their opening match against Thailand will be crucial in setting the tone for their campaign in the upcoming China-ASEAN Esports Competition 2024.
The Philippines was pooled in Group A along with China, a known powerhouse in the title, an up-and-coming Brunei, and a solid squad in Thailand. Meanwhile, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Malaysia will compose Group B.
Both groups will compete in a best-of-one format, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the best-of-three semifinals. The top team from Group A will face the second-ranked team from Group B, and vice versa.
The grand finals, set to take place after the one-day tournament, will also follow a best-of-three format.
“Yung sa draw, I’d say na balance naman. Kasi parang tatlo na good teams sa Group A and B. The chances, I’d say na it really depends sa match namin sa Thailand. Kasi given naman na ‘yung China eh,” said Ciiyan.
“Sa ngayon kasi parang merong sinasabi na tier three raw ‘yung pinadala [ng China], we still don’t know eh kung ano ‘yung lineup eh, wala pa kaming idea. Kaya ‘di pa alam. Siguro ano lang, the good thing lang is global patch ‘yung gagamitin, hindi ganun ka accustomed ‘yung Chinese team. Ayun lang ‘yung medyo ano natin,” he added.
The squad composed of BOOM Esports stars Miguel “Miggie” Banaag, Dragon Hard “Dragon” Dajao, Audrey “Ajizix” Cedro, Eleazar “Azar” Salle, John Lloyd “Impressive” Dela Cruz, and Execration standout Karl Ken “Karlll” Bautista are currently on their final stage of preparation.
SIBOL HoK will go through a couple of scrimmages on Wednesday night before dipping into action on Thursday morning, where they will face Thailand, Brunei, and China, respectively.
Villegas said that the team is drawing extra motivation from their loss to Thailand in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The veteran esports coach, along with Banaag and Dajao, were all part of the SIBOL Arena of Valor squad that suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Thais last year, which immediately booted them out of contention.
“Good thing lang is first match ‘yung sa Thailand, parang ‘yun na ‘yung revenge match sa last Asian Games against sa Thailand.“
