Asian Games-bound Sibol Pilipinas HOK eyes China as standard to beat

KUALA LUMPUR — The Sibol Honor of Kings national team is setting its sights on the bigger challenge of narrowing the gap with China ahead of its Asian Games run this September in Nagoya, Japan.

China remains as the gold standard in Honor of Kings after having dominated the scene for more than a decade now. And the Filipinos are looking at this powerhouse team as a measure of where they are and where they want to be.

"Sa practice lang [namin sila nakalaban] pero low-tier teams 'yun. More on discipline talaga sila and alam talaga nila kung paano laruin ‘yung HOK," clash laner Chammy "Chammy" Nazarrea told GMA News Online on Saturday.

Sibol made waves in the Kuala Lumpur qualifiers, reinforcing the belief that they are building toward something bigger.

The squad, which features the core of multi-titled Blacklist International, opened its campaign in dominant fashion, sweeping Pakistan, Mongolia, and Uzbekistan in separate best-of-three matches for a flawless 3-0 record. The strong start was enough to secure an outright berth to the Asian Games, with the top two teams from each group earning tickets to the prestigious continental meet.

With qualification already in hand, Sibol turned its attention to an even loftier goal of completing a sweep. They had to achieve this against rival Indonesia.

The Filipinos, though, fell short after the Indonesians pulled off a stunning 2-0 sweep to close out the qualifying round. The result was rare for either team as the Philippines usually won against Indonesia in their past international clashes.

Still, Sibol remains optimistic despite the loss, hoping to use this as a learning experience ahead of their Nagoya journey.

"Hindi lang talaga namin in-expect na mas malakas sa amin ‘yung Indonesia ngayon and siguro ayun din ‘yung isa naming mali kasi in a way, prepared kami na kalabanin sila pero hindi kami in-expect na gano’n silang kalakas," Chammy added.

"So feel namin, hindi namin nabigay lahat today. Maybe sa main stage na kami babawi."

But even with an impressive qualifiers campaign, Sibol is tempering expectations for the Asian Games, which will feature other powerhouse teams from Malaysia, Thailand, and South Korea.

Sibol is also looking to hold scrimmages against top Chinese players to improve their discipline and game styles for the Asian Games, where Honor of Kings will feature as a medal event for the first time.

"Nakaka-proud kasi once-in-a-lifetime ‘yung opportunity na ganito. Ginagawa lang din namin ‘yung best namin sa lahat, na manalo, kasi nga Philippines na ‘yung dala namin, hindi lang Blacklist," jungler Justine "Juschie" Tan said.

"'Yung chance na makipag-practice against Chinese teams since sila ‘yung pinakamalakas, lalo na ‘yung anim na players na ipapadala nila do’n, ‘yun ‘yung nilo-look forward ko, ‘yung makalaban sila and may matutunan."

—JKC, GMA News