James De Los Santos secures world no.1 spot in virtual kata

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

 

After a series of gold medal hauls in his recent international tournament stints, James De Los Santos is now the undisputed king of 2020 virtual kata.

The Filipino prized karateka will end the year in style after topping his first of the three medals in the Katana Intercontinental League Super Final.

De Los Santos prevailed over the veteran Nejc Strenisa of Slovenia in one of the most epic battles he had in his virtual kata international run.

It was a see-saw affair between the two but De Los Santos edged Strenisa in forms, tallying a final score of 25.38-24.18.

As usual, De Los Santos’ path going to the gold medal match wasn’t easy after taking down notable names in Alfredo Bustamante of USA, Amund Hillestad of Norway, and Nagy Botond of Hungary.

The Katana Intercontinental gold medal gave De Los Santos his 36^th overall and still has two more pending results before concluding his stellar 2020 campaign.

Win or lose, De Los Santos already cemented his number one spot in the international virtual kata rankings and will try to defend his position when 2021 opens.