'Happy for the 3rd gold, but it doesn't stop here,' says former nat'l team campaigner
Former national team campaigner James de los Santos claimed another gold in virtual competition as he downed South Africa’s Silvio Cerone-Biagioni in the finals of the e-Kata Individual Male Senior’s category Balkan Open eTournament Sunday.
The 30-year-old de los Santos, No. 3 in the world for virtual kata who also represents the International Shotokan Karate Federation, finished with 25.3 points against the 24.5 points of Cerone-Biagioni in the finals.
It was the second time in two weeks that de los Santos won against Cerone-Biagioni as he scored a semifinal victory during the Adidas Karate World Open Series E-Tournament last month.
On his way to the final round, de los Santos defeated Nejc Sternisa of Slovenia in the round of 16, Moroco’s Abdellah Ouchene in quarterfinals, and Jose Antonio Ordonez Quiros of Spain.
“I’m really happy to have earned my third virtual gold – but it doesn’t stop here,” said de los Santos, who also topped the Palestine International Karate Cup last April and the Korokotta Cup last June.
“There is prize, actually money, but only if there are 24 or more competitors in the category. Unfortunately, only 13 joined from 12 countries in my category,” added de los Santos in jest.
Overall, it was the sixth medal for de los Santos in 12 online tournaments, as he settled with silver medals in Adidas Karate World Open Series E-Tournament last month and the SportData E-Tournament World Series last May, and bronze in the First Dutch Open last June.
De los Santos, a two-time Southeast Asian (SEA) Games bronze medalist, said he will definitely join several more online tournaments in hopes to make it on top of the world ranking.