From a disqualification in their opening match to the top of their group, Sibol Pokémon UNITE squad turned its campaign around in dramatic fashion, taking down Chinese Taipei and Malaysia to seize the top seed in Pool A and punch its ticket to the quarterfinals of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 at Aichi Sky Expo in Japan on Saturday.
The Philippines got off to a nightmarish start on Friday when both Sibol and Kazakhstan were disqualified from their opening match due to uniform violations.
But the setback only set the stage for a remarkable turnaround. The Filipinos regrouped and swept their remaining group-stage matches, breathing new life into their medal bid and putting themselves in prime position to make a deep run in the tournament.
Sibol, which is supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, opened the day with a 2-0 victory over Chinese Taipei before dispatching Malaysia, 2-0, to finish the pool stage with a 2-1 win-loss record.
Chinese Taipei, which entered the day at 1-1 and was facing Kazakhstan (0-2) as of press time, could still pull level with the Philippines atop Pool A with a win.
However, Sibol, which is also backed by Smart, Cignal, TV5, and Arena Social, holds the tiebreaker after beating Chinese Taipei earlier in the day, ensuring that the Filipinos will remain the group’s top seed heading into the quarterfinals.
“Unfortunately, ‘yun nga, ‘yung nangyari kahapon. Pero binawi namin,” said Sibol Pokémon UNITE head coach Albert Camp. “We are really confident with our bracket for this Asian Games, but we didn’t underestimate our opponents.”
“Heading into the knockout stage, we are really prepared kung sino ‘man ang makakatapat namin sa quarterfinals. ‘Yun, we will still practice and tuloy pa rin kami kung ano ‘yung ginagawa namin para malagpasan namin ang quarterfinals,” he added.
Sibol will face the winner of the final selection phase between Hong Kong and India in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Karl Gonzalvo’s Puyo Puyo Champions campaign came to an end in the quarterfinals after he fell to Thailand’s Tanarak Wongkitikun, 2-5.
