Reaching No. 1 won't be easy, says De los Santos
Former national team campaigner James de los Santos has moved up to No. 2 in the world ranking for e-kata following two impressive performances the previous three weeks that saw him win gold and silver medals.
The 30-year-old De los Santos now has 3270.00 points as he moved past Italy’s Leonardo Birra, who slid to No. 3 with 2735.00 points in the e-kata Individual Male Senior’s category.
No. 1 in the ranking is Eduardo Garcia of Purtugal with 5995.00 points.
“Honestly, I thought I would still be at No. 3 just by a few points,” said De los Santos Thursday in a message to Manila Bulletin. “There were other tournaments I joined, but I didn’t make it far.”
“However, they too added points along with my recent gold medal win. That’s what shot me to the No. 2 spot.”
Last Sunday, De los Santos captured the gold medal in the Balkan Open eTournament last Sunday.
It was his third gold medal after he emerged as champion in the Palestine International Karate Cup last April and in the Korokotta Cup last June.
He also settled with silver in the SportData E-Tournament World Series last May and had a bronze in the First Dutch Open last June.
He is set to join his 14th online event this week in the Athlete’s E-Tournament.
De los Santos, advertising major at De La Salle University, said that while it’s going to be tough reaching No. 1, he is challenged by the thought of it and will continue to join tournaments.
READ: De los Santos eyes World No. 1 ranking in online karate
“It won’t be easy reaching No. 1 since I’m down by around 2,000+ points,” said the former two-time bronze medalist in the Southeast Asian Games. “But that’s what makes challenges exciting.”
“This will actually motivate me a lot more. I’m surprised with myself to climb higher in the rankings. I’ve joined this many tournaments in a short amount of time,” added De los Santos.