By Waylon Galvez
James De los Santos claimed his 6th gold medal since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by defeating Domont Matias Romero of Switzerland in the final 25.7-24.5 in the E-Champions Trophy World Series.
This one was more dramatic since the results were only posted Sunday – a day after they submitted their videos.
“Honestly, it gets nerve-wracking when you have to wait… until the result is revealed,” said De los Santos, whose video entry for the final was submitted last Saturday.
“But I always tell myself that as long as I gave my best, then everything will be fine. Now, it really feels amazing to win my sixth gold. The hard work is really paying off for me.”
The former national team member earned a final slot following a semifinal win against Scott Taylor of Canada via default when the latter’s video was not approved by the judges.
The 30-year-old De los Santos, the world No. 2 ranked player in the world e-kata, downed Silvio Cerone-Biagioni of South Africa 24.9-24.3 during their quarterfinal round encounter.
De los Santos has now won two gold medals this month as he also bagged the e-Karate Games 2020 title with an impressive 25.9-23.4 victory over Nejc Sternisa of Slovenia last Thursday
The other tournaments De Los Santos won are the Athletes E-Tournament last month, the Balkan Open eTournament last July, the Korokotta Cup last June and the Palestine International Karate Cup last April.
De los Santos, who uses the MKKPI Honbu Dojo as venue for all his events, is currently in the final of two more online meets, the 2nd Dutch Open E-Tournament and the Miyamoto Musashi-Five Rings E-Tournament.
