The SIBOL Naraka: Bladepoint squad which represented the Philippines in the esports competition of the 20th Asian Games. Photo from SIBOL
SIBOL Naraka: Bladepoint bowed out of contention in the esports competition of the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026.
The Filipino esports squad absorbed back-to-back losses before salvaging a 2-1 victory over Hong Kong in the group stage on Wednesday at the Aichi Sky Expo in Japan.
The two defeats to Vietnam and Chinese Taipei ultimately proved crucial, as the POC and PSC-backed SIBOL fell short of a spot in the semifinals.
Against Hong Kong, team captain Joaquin Paclibar set the tone with a commanding performance in Game 1 (solo), beating the opposing Mingjie Wang twice to give SIBOL a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
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Richard Espejo, Von Teñoso, and Kenneth Perez could not repeat their skipper's hot start in Game 2, falling to Fanny Fung Ching Wong, Yu Hin Wong, and Kevin Lam as the opponents forced a decider.
SIBOL regrouped just in time in the third game, holding off Hong Kong to close out its campaign with a victory.
“For this group stage, we’re confident that we executed what we practiced. But the teams at this level are really good, and they adapt very quickly. That’s something we still need to improve on,” Paclibar said.
“Qualifying through Singapore and then making it to Japan gave us proof that there are players from the Philippines who can compete at a high level. The hours we’ve put in throughout our growth have all led to this moment and we’re very grateful,” he added.
Next up for SIBOL, which is supported by Smart, Cignal, TV5, and Arena Social, is Karl Gonzalvo's Puyo Puyo Champions campaign on Thursday.
Gonzalvo will face Japan at 9:20 a.m., Kazakhstan at 10 a.m., South Korea at 10:40 a.m., and Hong Kong at 11:20 a.m. in Pool A.
—with a report from Carl Adrian Cruz, ABS-CBN News Digital Intern