MANILA, Philippines – A team from the Philippines fell short of the Mobile Legends Mid Season Cup for the second straight year as Falcons AP.Bren bowed to Malaysia’s Selangor Red Giants in the grand finals on Sunday, July 14.
Eyeing another coup after ruling the M5 World Championship in December, AP.Bren instead suffered a heartbreak following a 4-3 defeat to SRG in the championship series at the Amazon Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
AP.Bren sent the best-of-seven series to a sudden death only to be wiped out in Game 7 as SRG delivered Malaysia its first major Mobile Legends crown.
SRG also claimed the top purse of $1 million as the Mid Season Cup – one of the many events of the Esports World Cup – offered a massive prize pool of $3 million, the biggest in professional Mobile Legends history.
While SRG brought pride to Malaysia, Filipinos made up one-third of its team.
Mark “Kramm” Rusiana and John “Innocent” Banal bolstered SRG as part of the main five, while Michael “Arcadia” Bocado called the shots as head coach.
“We made sure to stay composed,” said Arcadia. “The best-of-seven series tested our mental fortitude, so we had to ensure we were in the zone and focused to execute our plans game by game seamlessly.”
Meanwhile, AP.Bren – composed of David “FlapTzy” Canon, Michael “KyleTzy” Sayson, Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel, Marco “Super Marco” Requitiano, and Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo – bagged $500,000.
Last year, a team from the Philippines also settled for a runner-up finish as Blacklist International lost to Indonesia’s Onic Esports in the old Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup, which got rebranded as the Mid Season Cup.
A total of 16 squads from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Cambodia, Brazil, Turkey, United States, Myanmar, China, and Peru competed in the group stage.
The Philippines’ Liquid Echo shared third-to-fourth places with Singapore’s NIP Flash to pocket $200,000. – Rappler.com