PUTRAJAYA: Selangor Red Giants (SRG) proved that they are made of sterner stuff as they staged a great comeback to beat Turkiye's ULFHEDNAR (ULF) at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M6 World Championship today.
SRG, who were trailing ULF 8-6 in kills at the 10-minute mark, turned the tide to win 15-8 in 15 minutes to claim the Best of One win in the Swiss stage at the IOI Grand Exhibition and Convention Centre.
The Malaysians, who won the Mid Season Cup in July, started their M6 campaign on the wrong foot on Thursday, losing their opener to Turkiye's S2G.
SRG head coach Michael Angelo "Arcadia" Bocado admitted he was a bit concerned after their shaky start, but was glad that the team managed to pull off their fightback.
He said that playing in Malaysia should be a boost instead of feeling pressured.
"I was a little bit worried. If you look at our line-up, we are really not that strong when it comes to the first few rotations, so we just make sure that we survive the space of the game and capitalise with our mid stage, which is what the players did," said the Filipino coach.
"We talk about this as a team, how should we feel going to the stage with all of the crowd.
So, basically as a coach I remind the players to not be pressured.
You should take it as an advantage, a motivation because these people are here to cheer you up and raise your spirit.
"As the tournament progresses, there will be more strong opponents, all the top teams in the world are competing here. We try to make sure that we learn from the first loss, and everything that we plan is executed well and that we respect all our opponents."
Bocado admitted that SRG have a bullseye on their back and become the team to beat following their sensational MSC win. However this should challenge their players to raise their game.