The Philippine national esports team, Sibol, officially kicks off its campaign to the 31st SEA Games set to take place from May 12 to 23, 2022, in Hanoi.
After tryouts, Sibol completed its roster last February 2022 with a total of 55 athletes and 9 coaches vying for the gold slate at the upcoming biennial regional sports event. Powered by Smart, Sibol debuted in the 30th SEA Game and has secured other major sponsor including PLDT, TV5, Cignal, and realme.
In a press briefing hosted by the Philippine Esports Organization (PeSO), the team unveiled its new logo, jersey, and slogan – “Lakad Matatag,” taken from PeSO Executive Driector Marlon “Lon” Marcelo’s globally famous caster call from a Dota2 match.
PeSO is the country’s national governing body for esport, and has been a member of the International Esport Fedartion (IESF) since 2012 and an associate member of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) since 2020.
During the event, PeSO also gave a sneak peek at the athlete roster. In attendance – Kristoffer Ed L. Ricaplaza – MLBB World Champion Coach, Christine Ray Roque Natividad – Wildrift No. 1 Female team SEA, Angel Danica Quiros Lozada, Wildrift No. 1 Female Team SEA, Dennis O. Ramos Jr. – CrossFire FPS game, Ralph Andrei M. Llabres – SIBOL Overall Head Coach, and Jabs Escutin – Sibol General Manager.
Sibol is set to introduce its complete team within the next few weeks who will be competing in all 10 esports events at the 31st SEA Games: League of Legends, FIFA 4, CrossFire, Arena of Valor, Garena Free Fire, Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), League of Legends: Wild Rift, and PUBG. The first batch of delegates is scheduled to fly to Hanoi on the week of May 9, 2022.
The 64-strong Sibol team is currently training at the Brenn Esports Facility in Makati, which is funded by Smart. In the pipeline are a lineup of activities for the delegation to give local and international esports fans an opportunity to get to know them on the way to the competitions.
Bringing in an all-new Sibol delegation, featuring an all-female team and twin athletes
Sibol will also be debuting its first all-female team for League of Legends: Wild Rift at the 31st SEA Games, alongside the first-ever twin male athletes who will be competing individually for Wild Rift.
With the exception of Jabs Escutin, the 2019 MLBB manager who brought home the gold medal, the roster is composed of fresh faces from all over the country.
realme will be sponsoring all 64 delegates with a smartphone for their official use.
Making firsts in PH esports history at international sports events
Sibol first made history for winning 5 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) dominating Dota 2, Starcraft II, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Tekken 7 at the 30th SEA Games held in Manila in 2019.
With an overall score of 3-2, Sibol defeated Indonesia in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang discipline to win the first-ever esports gold medal in Southeast Asia.
The bemedaled team will also be representing the Philippine in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou and the 14th IESF Esports World Championship in Bali, both scheduled to take place later this year.
For more updates, visit the Philippines Esports Organization and Sibol’s official Facebook pages.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
