World No. 1 James De los Santos has remained perfect in the E-Karate World Series tournament.
This after the Filipino online karate sensation bagged his fifth gold medal in the said meet – his first for the year – as he downed Domont Matias Moreno 25.6-24.4 in the final round.
The 30-year-old De los Santos, a former member of the national team, now has a total of three gold medals for 2021.
“It's a great feeling to win my third consecutive gold. This motivates me more to train harder and who knows, even beat my 2020 record,” said De los Santos in a message to Manila Bulletin.
Last year, De los Santos won a total of 36 gold medals, including 35 from various international competitions sanctioned by the SportsData for online tournaments of the World Karate Federation (WKF).
The results of his latest win was posted Saturday on the SportsData page.
On the way to the final round, De los Santos defeated Sebastian Alejandro Tena of the Netherlands, 24.8-21.6 in the semifinal.
In this same tournament last year, he dominated all four legs of the World Series, including the Grand Winner event, which was part of a 16-win streak where he went unbeaten in the last 16 tournaments he joined.
Meantime, Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain won three gold medals in the said meet following victories in the Under-15, Under-16, and Under-18 categories for her sixth overall gold medal this year.
“What surprised me is my MKKPI student Fatima performed a hat trick in this tournament. I’m very proud,” said De los Santos.