Filipino-coached Falcon Esports of Myanmar nabs M4 World Championship berth

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino coach Steven “Coach Dale” Vitug and his team Falcon Esports soared to the top after beating Fenix Esports, 3-1, to book the Myanmar spot for the upcoming M4 World Championships.

The former MPL PH tactician is considered one of the pioneers of the Philippine Mobile Legends scene. The player turned coach helped give the Philippines its first South East Asian Games gold medal in Mobile Legends during the 30th SEA Games in Manila in 2019. He was Omega Esports' coach when they reached the M2 World Championship, eventually moving to Aura PH and was still part of the team when they rebranded to ECHO.

Almost a year ago, Vitug announced his retirement from Mobile Legends with plans of heading abroad to join his family but the Mobile Legends came calling and last month, it was announced that he was the new coach of Myanmar team Falcon Esports.

The Burmese squad had an impressive run during the MSC 2022, dubbed as the dark horse of the regional tournament, but would eventually fall to the Philippines' Smart Omega, 0-3 during the Knockout Stages.

Hoping to reach the world stage, Falcon Esports acquired the services of Vitug and saw a dominant and unbeaten run during at the M4 World Championship-Myanmar Qualifier Group Stages. The team eventually took home the crown after securing a five-game win streak.

With the win, Vitug becomes the second Filipino coach overseas to lead a team to the World Championship after John Michael "Zico" Dizon led his Cambodian team Burn x Flash to its first MPL Cambodia title two weeks ago.