SIBOL MLBB Women completed a sweep of their group stage matches to emerge as the top seed in Group A and secure an outright semifinals slot at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Sunday at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Filipinas put together a dominant run, delivering lopsided wins over Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand to reach the medal rounds for the second straight edition, following their silver finish in the previous staging of the biennial meet.
“So far naman lumabas yung mga pinrepare namin sa mga practices namin. Siguro magandang pamboost din ng confidence ng mga players (yung naging performance namin ngayon) para sa mga next matches and abangan nyo yung next na mga ilalabas pa namin,” said head coach Salman “KingSalman” Macarambon, reflecting on their group stage performance.
Team Liquid PH goldlaner Clarisse Nicole “CLA” Cordova made her national team debut against Laos, posting a 5-0-8 KDA in the opener before closing out Game 2 with a 4-2-8 KDA in SIBOL’s 13-minute victory.
Against Vietnam, NAVI’s Sheen “Shinoa” Perez returned to the roster in place of Cordova, but it was Kaye “Keishi” Alpuerto who led the charge, recording an immaculate 9-0-4 KDA on Lancelot in Game 1.
Rica “Amoree” Amores (Zhuxin) then took the spotlight in Game 2, finishing the 17-minute conquest of Vietnam unscathed with an impressive 5-0-6 KDA.
In their final group stage match, SIBOL appeared tentative early in Game 1 but regrouped successfully behind Mery “Meraaay” Vivero’s (Grock) initiations to pull off a 13-minute win, anchored by a dominant 13-5 kill score.
Alpuerto went on a rampage in the final game, tallying four kills and seven assists while remaining deathless in the 10-minute affair.
NAVI’s Gwyneth “Ayanami” Diagon also delivered steady play from the EXP lane as the Filipino representatives entered the medal rounds with a perfect 8-0 record.
