PVL, college volleybelles clash in charity ML tourney

Gretchel Soltones will be among the confirmed players for the ML tournament for the benefit of medical frontliners. Nikki Collantes (file photo)

By Dugout Philippines

MANILA--DoubleTap Gaming Entertainment in cooperation with Sports Bytes Philippines will host the first-ever eSports online charity tournament starting June 27. The event is sponsored by Smart Communications, Inc. and Sta. Lucia Realty.  

Proceeds from the tournament, where the participants will play Mobile Legends Bang Bang, will be given to the frontliners of Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, San Juan Medical Center, and another hospital that will be announced before the tournament starts.

The tournament will be only for two days. The other playdate will be on July 4. The games will start streaming at 3 p.m. 

Each team will be made up of five players that will play in a single-round robin tournament. Teng Mesiter, Maykoo and Shifty Deo will be the shoutcasters for the charity event.

The participating PVL teams for the event include the BaliPure Purest Water Defenders, Petro Gazz Angels, Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors, PLDT Home Fibr Hitters, Chery Tigo 7 Pro Crossovers and the UAC Power Hitters.

From the collegiate ranks, the San Beda Lady Red Spikers, LPU Lady Pirates and the UP Fighting Lady Maroons will also take part in the inaugural MLBB Charity Tournament for Frontliners.

“The idea just popped up when we started to talk with some players from Balipure that was set up by team manger Gil Cortez back in April. In the course of our conversations with the Purest Water Defenders, I was surprised to find most of them seriously into playing Mobile Legends. So I thought of setting up an online match between them against my nephews and niece plainly for fun. The attention soon spread and then it was there where I learned that there were a lot of players from the PVL teams into MLBB,” Brian Yalung, Sports Bytes PH founder, said.

Among the registered players who will play for their respective teams include Graze Bombita and Alina Joyce Bicar of Balipure, Grethcel Soltones and Myla Pablo of Petro Gazz, Mylene Paat of Chery Tigo, 

Andrea Marzan and Jonah Sabete of Sta. Lucia and Angeli Araneta and Dimdim Pacres of UAC from the PVL.

There will be 13 teams participating in the event, composed of a mix of players, officials and staff from the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) and the college ranks.

“Aside from enjoying MLBB, BaliPure players admitted that it became a type of team building affair since they had to coordinate with their team members and plan their strategy to win the game. Most of them have been into Mobile Legends for some time now so it appeared to be a sensible project to undertake. Smart Communications and Sta. Lucia liked the idea and the upcoming event appeared to be timely considering the PVL may start soon,” Yalung added.

Volleyball players from the college ranks will also banner their respective teams. This includes Andreanna Lagman and Mirgie Bautista of the UP Fighting Lady Maroons, Lyn Matias and Nicole Laguna of the San Beda Lady Red Spikers and Sofia Sarmiento and Venice Puzon from the LPU Lady Pirates.

Some teams will be composed of volleyball players who assembled teams to meet the mandatory five-player lineup for each match.

All games will be streamed live via the Facebook pages of DoubleTap Gaming, Sports Bytes Philippines, and Smart Sports.

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