As SEA Games closes, age of esports begins

Published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The neon haze of PC screens and mobile phones at San Juan’s FilOil Flying V Arena has begun to fade following the closing ceremony of the 30th Southeast Asian Games’s esports disciplines, but the fire still burns in the hearts of our national athletes—casting a bright light into the future of this burgeoning industry.

For a first-time showing in Southeast Asia, Philippine National Team Sibol came out strong. Out of six esports events, Sibol took home five medals (3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze) which is the most out of all the competing countries, and is especially noteworthy given the context: these 2019 SEA Games introduced esports as a multi-sport medalled event for the first time ever, sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee.

In the team-based games, the Philippines celebrates two groups for taking home the gold. On Dec. 8, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang team claimed the nation’s first gold medal after a fierce display of tenacious perseverance as they pushed past Indonesia’s match point at game 3 of 5. Despite their opponents’ early lead, Sibol regained their footing by game 4. And with game 5 evening out the field at 2–2, Sibol-MLBB saw gold, rode their momentum, and sealed the deal.

The next day, Sibol-Dota 2 clashed against Thailand in their hard-fought battle. Mirroring their MLBB brothers from the day before, our Dota 2 competitors struggled in the early games of their series. Things looked grim for Sibol as the Thais won match after match, until in the final round of the series they reset their minds and switched tactics. After one fateful skirmish and a perfectly-placed Black Hole 39 minutes into the match, the tables turned and the rest of the game was defined as one that Team Philippines would win.

In the individual esports, all our delegates played their hearts out but only one secured the win. Sibol’s StarCraft II champion Caviar “EnDerr” Acampado lived up to his alias after ending Singapore delegate Thomas “Blysk” Kopankiewicz’s title bid, by winning 4–1 in the title match.

“I’m really happy and at the same time relieved that I didn’t disappoint our countrymen and all of our fans and supporters,” Acampado said after his historic win. “My opponents were really tough but fortunately my preparation along with the program we had prior to the SEA Games helped me a lot. This is for all who believed in us.”

Our bronze and silver medalists both came from the Tekken 7 discipline. Andreij Hosea “Doujin” Albar and Alexandre Gabrielle “AK” Laverez were both assured of at least the bronze after facing each other in the lower bracket finals. After defeating his Philippine teammate, Lavarez moved on to face Thailand’s bet, Nopparut “Book” Hempamorn, in the grand finals.

The battle was fiercely fought, and similar to our team-based finals, it was down to the last game. Unfortunately for Lavarez, Hempamorn was simply too tough a nut to crack. The Filipino fighters flanked the Thai champ, taking second and third place on the podium.

Their efforts are nothing to scoff at, though, as thanks to Albar and Lavarez winning bronze and silver on the last day of the 2019 SEA Games esports leg, the Philippines claims most medals overall, on top of most gold medals. We salute our athletes for securing the country’s place in the history books, and propelling its esports potential to new heights.