SEA Games Esports: Philippines defeat Indonesia 3-1 to win gold for Mobile Legends

The Philippines earned its second gold medal of the 2022 Hanoi SEA Games esports event after its representatives for Mobile Legends defeated their Indonesian counterparts, 3-1, in the gold medal match. (Photo: SIBOL Facebook page)
The Philippines earned its second gold medal of the 2022 Hanoi SEA Games esports event after its representatives for Mobile Legends defeated their Indonesian counterparts, 3-1, in the gold medal match. (Photo: SIBOL Facebook page)

The Philippines has bagged its second gold medal of the 2022 Hanoi Southeast Asian Games after its representatives for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang defeated Indonesia, 3-1, in the best-of-five gold medal match on Friday (20 May).

The SIBOL Philippine national esports team contingent for Mobile Legends is comprised of players from Blacklist International, namely Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna, Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario, Salic "Hadji" Alauya Imam, Howard "Owl" Gonzales, Kyle Dominic "Dominic" Soto, Dexstar "Dex Star" Louise Cruz Alaba, and Russel Aron "Eyon" Usi.

The roster is also coached by Kristoffer Ed "BONCHAN" Ricaplaza and Aniel "Master the Basics" JIandani.

Blacklist International are also the reigning Mobile Legends world champions, having defeated fellow Filipino team ONIC Philippines to claim the title at the M3 World Championship in December last year.

The Mobile Legends competition began with a seven-team group stage on Wednesday (18 May), where representatives from the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos were split into two groups and battled for the four spots in the playoffs.

The Philippines dominated Group A, finishing with a 4-0 record to take the first playoff spot for the group alongside second seed Malaysia. Meanwhile, Indonesia and Singapore advanced from Group B.

The playoffs then kicked off on Thursday (19 May), with the Philippines defeating Singapore, 2-1, to advance to the gold medal match. Indonesia routed Malaysia, 2-0, to take the second spot in the grand finals.

The gold medal match kicked off with a 29-minute slugfest, where the Philippines outlasted a stout defense from their Indonesian opponents to take their first win of the series with a 17-8 kill lead.

Indonesia managed to bounce back in game two, where they outmatched their Filipino opponents in teamfights to take a 18-minute victory with a 18-10 kill lead.

The pivotal third game of the series ended up as another drawn-out bloodbath. Both teams went blow for blow in a 24-minute slugfest that had a total of 40 kills, with the Philippines emerging victorious with a 24-16 kill lead.

The Philippines smelled blood in the water in game four, as they dismantled their Indonesian opponents en route to a 10-minute victory with a 7-2 kill lead that secured the 3-1 series victory.

The SIBOL Mobile Legends team take the stage after winning their country's second gold medal for esports in the 2022 Hanoi Southeast Asian Games. (Photo courtesy of SEA Games)
The SIBOL Mobile Legends team take the stage after winning their country's second gold medal for esports in the 2022 Hanoi Southeast Asian Games. (Photo courtesy of SEA Games)

With their victory, the Philippines claimed the gold medal for Mobile Legends. This is SIBOL's second-straight gold medal for Mobile Legends, having won the title's first appearance in the inaugural esports event of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines.

Indonesia will settle for silver while Singapore will go home with the bronze medal after they defeated Malaysia in the bronze medal match.

The Philippines now has medals from the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games esports event, both being gold. The country won its first gold thanks to a dominant performance from its Women's League of Legends: Wild Rift team, who swept their Singaporean counterparts in their gold medal match on Wednesday.

With their silver medal finish in Mobile Legends, Indonesia now has a total of four medals in the esports event. They previously claimed the gold and silver medals for Free Fire as well as another silver medal for the individual PUBG Mobile competition.

Meanwhile, Singapore has three medals; one silver for women's League of Legends: Wild Rift and one bronze for Men's League of Legends: Wild Rift in addition to its bronze for Mobile Legends.

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