World No. 1 James De los Santos captured his ninth gold medal this year in record fashion as he broke the 27-point mark.
The online karate sensation De los Santos ruled the second leg of the Katana Intercontinental League Paris by beating world No. 2 Domont Matias Moreno of Switzerland in the final, 27.44-26.32, on Monday, March 15.
Since he joined the e-kata competition last year, De los Santos twice recorded the highest total of a 26-point output, which earned him the gold medals in two tournaments.
This time, he got another first.
“When I made a personal record by hitting the 26-point mark, I said to myself that I’ll aim to hit a 27 eventually,” De los Santos told Manila Bulletin. “Hitting that mark is difficult, and I’m surprised with myself that I did it.”
“I never imagined reaching that high of a score. It’s a new personal record for me,” added De los Santos, who likewise won the first leg of Katana Moscow edition last February 11.
It was in that second leg of Katana that he recorded his second 26-point total when De los Santos downed Moreno 26.64-25.06 in the final.
Last year, the former national team member placed fifth overall in the second edition of Katana, but he won gold medals in the third, fourth and fifth legs of the event – the last one was in December.
That three-gold medal haul was part of the 36 he captured last year, including 35 in World Karate Federation (WKF) sanctioned online meets.
The latest gold medal for De los Santos came just two days after he won for the second time this year the biggest e-kata event when he dominated the Sportsdata e-Tournament World Series.