World No. 1 e-kata athlete James De los Santos captured three gold medals in one day, which improved his medal collection this month to 10, and 29 overall since he joined the events in April.
The 30-year-old De los Santos dominated the Rome International ENDAS Karate Cup, captured his second in the Euro Grand Prix, then capped the day by taking a third straight mint in the E-Karate Games.
He won against Alfredo Bustamante in the Rome International ENDAS Karate Cup finals, 25.1-25, edged Matias Moreno Domont in the 2nd Euro Grand Prix and downed Silvio Cerone-Biogioni in the 3rd E-Karate Games.
De los Santos, a former national team member, won the E-Karate Games first leg in August and the second leg in October, while the victory in the first Euro Grand Prix came in November.
“It was tiresome that I had three tournament finals in one day,” said De los Santos when contacted by Manila Bulletin.
“But I really had to push myself to give my best in every performance… because every tournament counts. It's surprising for me that I was able to score three gold medals in one day for the first time.”
“I could say that it is a personal record for me,” added De los Santos, who is hoping to sustain the top ranking until the end of the year, which could give him additional prices from the World Karate Federation.
During the weekend, De los Santos won the 3rd leg of the 2020 Venice Cup.
So far, he has won 10 tournaments this month, which include the 4th Katana Intercontinental League, the Golden League, the Athletes E-Tournament Cash Award 2, the NOX Dojo Markham City Open and the Okinawa World Series 2.
In the Rome International ENDAS Karate Cup, he made it to the final after a dominant performance in the quarterfinal where he defeated Christian Stengl of Germany 24.8.21.3, and Davide Zompa of Italy in the semifinal 24.6-23.
Only results were available online in the E-Karate Games and Euro Grand Prix.