Mixed results for Sibol in day 1 of inaugural e-sports play

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine e-sports team had a solid start but came out flat in the late games in Day One of this debuting Southeast Asian Games competition at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan Thursday.

For the first time in the history of the biennial event, e-sports is held as an official medal sport. And looking for a blast of a start, Sibol came out strong.

The Mobile Legends: BangBang team dispatched Laos in commanding fashion, 2-0, after a 1-1 draw against Indonesia.

The Philippine team put up a statement victory, collecting 35 kills against Laos’ only seven in a best-of-two series.

Nepomuceno showed his supremacy to propel the team to victory as he tallied 11 kills with no death and 9 assists in the second game of the best-of-2 series.

“Alam namin sa sarili namin nasa upperhand na kami sa group pero hindi kami nagu-underestimate eh. Kumbaga respeto pa rin sa kalaban at sa ibang bansa,” said coach Dale Vitug.

Afterwards, ML-BB slid to lower bracket after losing to Thailand in Game 1.

Meanwhile, Caviar “EnDerr” Acampado swept his Day One assignments in Starcraft II, disposing off Malaysia (2-0), Thailand (2-0), Vietnam (2-0), Indonesia (2-0) and Singapore (2-1) for a clean 5-0 slate in Group B.

On the other hand, fellow Starcraft II member Justin Nuks had a 2-3 outing in Group A.

Likewise, local bets for Hearthstone Jacinta Patricia "Jia" Dee and Dustin "Waningmoon" Mangulabnan posted two wins and three losses.