WORLD No. 1 karate champion James De los Santos continued his impressive performance by winning the gold medal in the Golden League Karate e-Tournament last Tuesday.
De los Santos defeated Alfredo Bustamante of the United States, 25.7-24.3, in the final to capture the gold medal.
It was the 23rd gold medal — and the fourth this month — for De los Santos, who made history by becoming the world No. 1 in e-kata when he overtook former topnotcher Eduardo Garcia of Portugal last month.
With the wn, De los Santos also solidified his hold on the top spot.
“I’m really very happy to win my 23rd gold medal,” said Delos Santos in his Facebook post.
The 30-year-old Filipino champion drew a bye in the quarterfinal and won over Matias Moreno Domont of Switzerland25.4-23.9, in the semifinal.
“I have to admit that I was feeling nunder the weather during the fials. But I still performed and ended up winning the gold medal,” wrote De los Santos.
“Thank you God for keeing me safe and healthy,” added De lo Santos, who was also given a clean bill of health after testing negative in his COVID-19 test.
“I was sick. I felt slightly dizzy during the finals, but it’s not COVID-19,”added De los Santos. “But the virus is still out there, so it’s still highly necessary to follow all the health and safety protocols.”
De los Santos thanked his sponsor, Kaffea Healthy Coffee Blend.
He also thanked his kata coach, Masa Saito; conditioning coach Jay Futalan; former teammate and MKKPI chief instructor Gierby Halog Lacorte; and uncle Adonis Colonia.
He had good words for his American opponent, Bustamenta.
Before reaching the final, Bustamante won over Silvio Biogioni of South Africa 23.9-23.8 in the quarterfinal, and Murilo Alves of Brazil 24.5-23.1 in the semis.
