Sibol Mobile Legends squad sweeps 1st round of IESF qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — Sibol’s Mobile Legends men's team asserted its dominance in the recently concluded Southeast Asia qualifiers for the 2023 IESF World Esports Championships (WEC). 

The team swept the group stages against Myanmar and Vietnam, beating them both 2-0 to book their slot to the next round — the Asia + Oceania qualifiers wherein only the top five teams will move forward to the WEC Playoffs slated in Iasi, Romania starting August 25.

Though already qualified, SIBOL continued their mastery of the game with a 3-0 sweep over fellow qualifier Cambodia to cap off the Southeast Asian round.

Long road ahead

Amid the strong start, the team is in for a long and tough year.

Besides IESF, the Filipino gamers will defend the country's gold in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia while still competing in the local Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL PH) with their professional team BREN Esports, the tournament favorite.

If they end up champions, the team will see another tournament in their calendar — MSC 2023, which will also be staged in Cambodia this June — before competing once again in the IESF Asia + Oceania qualifiers to book their tickets to Romania.

"We take it one game at a time. We don't give in to the pressure. It's a long year ahead of us, and we take it one day at a time. We don't focus on other teams, we focus on ourselves, how we master the game and how we improve our [gameplay] on a day to day basis," Coach Francis "Ducky" Glindro said in a joint press conference with Sibol and Moonton.

With their multiple tournaments ahead, the team is using their participation in their coming tournaments as training grounds for the next game on their busy schedule.

"It's quite hectic for us this month with MPL PH, SEA Games and IESF. We're actually hitting three birds with one stone in terms of preparation," added Glindro.

The team, as BREN Esports, will next see action in the MPL PH Season 11 Playoffs Thursday. Once the tournament ends, the squad will be representing Sibol and heading to Cambodia for the Men's MLBB event in the 32nd SEA Games, which will begin on May 12.