MANILA – Filipino karateka James de los Santos capped the year as the world’s No.1 e-kata karateka after capturing three gold medals in separate tournaments over the weekend.
The 30-year-old karateka of Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines International now has 36 gold medals in total after ruling the Katana Intercontinental League 5, the Golden League Karate eTournament 4 and the E-Karate Grand Winner tilt.
De Los Santos first slammed Nejc Sternisa of Slovenia, 25.38-24.18, for the Katana Intercontinental League gold.
He was qualified for the finals after ruling a five-man semifinal group that included Alfredo Bustamante of the United States, Silvio Cerone-Biagoni of South Africa, Botond Nagy of Hungary, and Amund Hillestad of Norway.
De Los Santos added another title after repeating over Bustamante, this time in the Grand Final of the Golden League Karate E-Tournament. The Filipino standout dominated, 25.3-24.1, in the title match.
The Cebuano earlier took down Sweden’s Elias Ekman and Hillestad in the first two rounds to get a shot and eventually clinch his 35th gold.
The two-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist then concluded the year with his 36th gold after dominating Belgium’s Philippart Chrisley, 25.4-23.4, in his final match.
After ending the quarterfinals as top-seed, De Los Santos once again took down Bustamante in the semifinals, 25.5-24.5.
“It was a Merry Christmas indeed. What a way to end the year! It has been a blast,” said De Los Santos in a statement after the match.
This was the third hat trick performance of the undefeated De Los Santos since the fourth leg of the Sportdata E-Tournament World Series last Sept. 9./PN
