The Sibol team of Robert de Guzman picked up a win and a loss in the Dream Three Kingdoms 2 event as the Philippines put up a semblance of a fight in the 19th Asian Games esports competitions at the Hangzhou Esports center on Wednesday, September 27.
De Guzman and his teammates first turned back the Sardor Azimov-led Uzbekistan, 1-0, before bowing, 0-1, to the Meirlan Yanmakhanov-powered Kazakhstan, to place second in Group B.
The top two squads in each group will reach the quarterfinals, which now has Kazakhstan, China and Thailand as the first qualifiers.
![Team Sibol file photo [PR photo release]](http://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/346119451_630364875256504_1643914683283801924_n-e1695819257353.jpg)
As the second-placed team in the group, the Philippines, which is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, arranged a quarterfinal showdown with Hong Kong on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in the eSports competition making its debut in the games.
In Group A, Laos took the lead after getting past Hong Kong and Tajikistan in the morning matches.
Group C saw Vietnam stopping Kyrgyzstan, 1-0, but the latter bounced back with a triumph over Nepal, 1-0.
Vietnam stayed unbeaten after whipping Nepal, 1-0, for their second straight victory.
Meanwhile, Sibol tries its luck in DOTA 2 when it meets India on Friday, Sept. 29.