SIBOL Pokémon UNITE squad takes bronze

Indonesia landed a super-effective blow that SIBOL Pokémon UNITE could not recover from.

The Philippines squandered a huge lead in the opening game and never recovered in the second, suffering a 0-2 defeat in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday at Aichi Sky Expo in Japan here.

Although falling short of the gold medal match, SIBOL remained proud of its team, especially after securing the country’s first-ever esports medal in the Asian Games.

“Still, sobrang happy. I’m still in awe kasi first time and sobrang happy ako sa boys ko kasi nga lifetime na nilang dadalhin ‘to. Na nagdala sila ng medalya para sa bansang Pilipinas,” said head coach Albert Camp.

Spearheaded by Robert Mempin’s Cinderace, SIBOL, which is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, built a comfortable lead and appeared poised to take the opening game.

But just as the Philippines looked ready to close out the opener, Indonesia seized Kyogre in the final two minutes, turning the powerful late-game objective into the spark for a stunning comeback.

With Kyogre giving the team a crucial boost for the final push, Indonesia erased the Filipinos’ lead and escaped with a 312-277 victory, leaving the Philippines staring at a 0-1 set deficit after holding on to a huge advantage for the first eight minutes of the contest.

“Actually nung Game 1, sobrang swerte nung kalaban. If you will notice, sobrang low health nung mga kalaban. It’s just that kinapos tayo,” explained Camp.

Sibol never regained its footing after the heartbreaking opener.

Indonesia carried the momentum into the second game and pulled away early, leaving the Philippines unable to mount another comeback as it suffered an 887-204 defeat.