By Waylon Galvez
Former national team member James De los Santos kept his title streak going as he captured two more gold medals to bring his total to 9 since the coronavirus outbreak in March.
De los Santos claimed his seventh gold medal after ruling the Miyamoto Musashi Five Rings event before topping the 2nd Dutch Open E-Tournament for his gold No. 8.
The 30-year-old De los Santos defeated Murilo Alves of Brazil, 25.3-24.5, in the Miyamoto Musashi Five Rings final meet, and won against Alfredo Bustamante of the USA 25.4-24.7 in the final of the 2nd Dutch Open E-Tournament.
“It’s amazing that I was able to make a gold sweep,” said De los Santos, the No. 2 ranked player in the world e-kata, who won his sixth gold medal last Sunday after his victorious campaign in the E-Champions Trophy World Series.
“But there’s still more work to be done.”
“Reaching the No. 1 spot is still a long journey for me, but it’s not stopping me. There’ll be more tournaments to come, which will add points to the virtual kata world rankings.”
The online karate sensation in the country also won gold medals in the e-Karate Games 2020 last Thursday, 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.
With his latest title wins, De los Santos is expected to get additional points. He has so far garnered 4275 points while No. 1 Eduardo Garcia of Portugal has 7075.00 points.