Photo: HOK Philippines Esports/FB

By Tiffany Dela Cruz

Hyve All Stars posted an emphatic victory over defending champion AG Global of Malaysia, 2-0, in the grand finals to complete a sweep of the 32-team Honor of Kings (HoK) Women’s Series Season 3 on Saturday at the GBK Basketball Hall in Indonesia.

The lone Filipino squad in quarterfinals needed just 12 minutes to take Game 1, conceding only a single turret in a masterful display of macro play, before completing the sweep and clinching the title with a decisive 17-9 victory in Game 2 after 16 minutes of action.

Screengrabbed from: HOK Philippines Esports/FB

This marks the Philippines’ first-ever championship in any Honor of Kings international tournament.

The squad is composed of Sophia Paula “Wunna” Ortiz, Charize “Joyed7” Doble, Jennilyn “Rogue” Ching, Wella Mae “Postyy” Petate, and Gia “Jeeya” Llanes, with Homer “Fleur” Matol serving as head coach.

“Actually, we really prepared hard for this tournament. Honestly, we don’t expect that our series with AG will be 2-0,” said Wunna moments after the title win.

Hyve swept the pool phase by taking out Vanesha, Synergy Sparks, and TTN Angels to clinch the top seed in Group 6 and become the lone Filipino team in the top eight.

They then swept past Indonesia’s Dominator Esports in the quarterfinals and Bigetron by Vitality in the semifinals, setting up a best-of-three showdown with AG Global in the grand finals.

Meanwhile, Bigetron by Vitality settled for third place after dominating fellow Indonesian squad Code Unknown Xara in the third-place match.